For Serenity's Sake
by Isis cw
Summary: Complete! A new twist on the story of the Silver Millennium. Highlights the developing relationship of two people forced to marry...
1. Prologue

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
http://www.geocities.com/realmofisis  
Rated: G  
Alternate e-mail: isis_cw@yahoo.com  
Disclaimers: Sailor Moon is not a product of my imagination, yet   
this manipulation of its characters and story line is. Please do not   
copy.  
  
Author's Notes: Close to year since "For Argument's Sake"   
entered SM fandom, the humble goddess has returned. Though I   
had many requests for a follow up to my first piece, I felt that I had   
to try my hand at a Silver Millennium fic first. I drew quite a lot   
from the manga and I hope I do not confuse any of you with this.   
If so, please e-mail me with any questions; I would hate to have   
you confused all the way through! With that, welcome to the   
second installment of the kingdom of Isis.  
  
Two special notes must go out; first to Taf, my beta reader, who   
sigh put up with my madness for months on end waiting for me   
to finish this thing!! God love ya, Taf, thank you!! Second a   
special thank you for everyone who read "FAS" and wrote to me   
about it. You guys are the best. I never expected such results.   
Thank you. BTW, for anyone wondering I ALWAYS return e-  
mail, there have only been a few exceptions that I could not   
contact. {}[] Kisses and hugs to all!!  
  
PS. To all mythology loving individuals out there… consider this   
a test! ;-) This is dedicated to everyone who still likes to dream   
and will not allow life to interrupt them!  
  
  
Prologue  
@}---  
  
  
The dome of the planet sat low in the vast blankness of the night   
sky. The huge orb had eaten away the sun nearly an hour before,   
and since the visitors had grouped themselves around the   
unfamiliar palace. Yet, still one small form lingered at the rail of   
the balcony, watching intently the giant as it too prepared for its   
nightly rest.  
  
The boy showed only eight years, yet the depth of his eyes in   
contemplation could rival the muses. And, as now, something   
troubled the youth enough to weigh in on his thoughts. It had been   
a short trek, and swiftly taken, that had brought the child and his   
mother to foreign soil and would take them home again before the   
sun's rays managed to skirt the obtrusive planet once more.  
  
But the trouble was not the trip itself but in what he had found on   
it. Beauty, eloquence, and a small, nearly family orientated, center   
to this "aloof and removed" kingdom as he had heard it sited so   
many times. He was young and of seemingly little consequence to   
those he may over-hear. He believed he would find more of the   
same here, only he had been mistaken.  
  
The people he had found were considerate and inviting to him,   
much as his mother's inner court always acted towards him. The   
queen herself seemed curious of him and asked him frequently to   
voice his opinion of her home.  
  
He had taken quite a liking to the gentile, soft-spoken, silver-haired   
woman. His mother had spoken of the queen's daughter who, it   
was rumored, was kept locked within the high tower, so over-  
protective was her mother. The boy turned to look up at the   
heights of the palace rising to meet the silver stars above him. In   
his innocent imaginings he could see a small playroom and   
chamber where the little princess stayed most of her days being   
frequented often by the queen.  
  
He wondered silently if there truly was such a place, though try as   
he might he could find no lights illuminating the windows of the   
tall spirals visible to him from his post. He had asked his mother   
earlier if he would ever meet the princess but she had simply   
smiled and told him he was much too inquisitive, yet she did relate   
that the girl had not yet reached her third year and therefore was   
still too young to be introduced to court life.  
  
So the young one's vigil continued as he rounded again to the   
sinking sphere. The peaceful landscape lay dark but unforeboding   
to him. His deep blue eyes could just pick out the huge fountain   
that streamed below. Small fairy-like lights displayed it in soft   
shadows and sparkles.  
  
The boy balanced himself on his toes so that he could reach a   
height to place his chin on the cool stone railing. His eyes drifted   
back to the orb that was threatening to be eaten away by the distant   
trees. His confused thoughts turned back to those of his home.   
Why did so many think so badly about this pretty place? He liked   
it here…  
  
  
@}---_____________  
"If there is light in the soul, there is beauty in the person.  
If there is beauty in the person, there is harmony in the house.  
If there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation.  
If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."  
-Chinese Proverb  
  
Personal Note:  
"If I had more time, I would write a shorter story." – Samuel   
Clemens ;)  
  



	2. Chapter 1

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy  
AN: How often we do not like surprises when we are unsure of   
what exactly we are getting? Dedicated to anyone who thinks their   
parents are nuts, don't worry, they steadily get smarter as you get   
older. Listen!  
  
  
Chapter 1  
@}---  
  
  
"Mother?"  
  
The thrown room's long hall was deserted. Blue and green   
curtains of color streamed from the vaulted ceiling to pool alone at   
the sides of the grand walkway. Golden tiles passed by underfoot   
as the young man quickly strode the length of the room. He   
arrowed his way directly toward a dark haired woman standing   
quietly behind the thrones.  
  
The back wall was covered over with the royal colors of the   
kingdom. Satin sheets emblazoned with the crest of their world   
hung solemnly between the slender floor-to-ceiling slits that served   
as windows.  
  
The dark haired man mounted the dais's steps and called again to   
the woman standing next to the window's pane. "Mother? You   
asked for me?" His voice, echoing through the deserted room,   
sounded dull and tired.  
  
"Such gloom to you, child. You match the clouds above us these   
days," she spoke quietly. Without response he moved to her side   
and gazed out of the glass as well, dark blue eyes focused on   
nothing.  
  
"These rains will wash the creeks to rivers, and the rivers to   
worse," he said quickly.  
  
The woman chuckled lightly, "I care nothing for rain save that our   
people are not drown by it." She turned her soft stare from the   
window's view and fixed it on her son. Grudgingly he turned to   
regard her deep sea-green eyes. She merely contemplated his a   
moment before tuning to step gracefully around him. Loose black   
hair, as dark as her son's, trailed her wake as she moved to her   
throne and took a slanted seat upon it. Sitting comfortably she   
again eyed her son who had not moved from his position.  
  
"Perhaps I should be much less gloomy with my wedding so   
immanent."  
  
The queen sat silent a moment, contemplating the man before her.   
"Do you feel we have wronged you so much?" she whispered.  
  
He closed his eyes to darkness a moment. "It is not I that I fear has   
been wronged. She is but a child, Mother. How prepared for this   
could she be?"  
  
"A woman is prepared for her wedding by her birth alone."  
  
He sighed softly but did not turn from the glass or answer her.  
  
"Indeed I know this meeting is rushed, and not for what you had   
hoped, but you must have faith in us Endymion. No parent would   
throw their child into unhappiness without a cause for joy."  
  
"It is not joy or unhappiness that my mind dwells on. My bride is   
little more than a child."  
  
The woman twirled a lock of her hair mindlessly as she closely   
watched her son's movements. He stood straight and tall, a   
powerful figure clad in armor and clothed again with a sweeping   
black cape. But there was no anger in the set of his jaw. His   
stance showed only a resigned worry. The set of his eyes as he   
watched the shadows of clouds float past the outside world told   
only of a deep contemplation.  
  
"Can you argue with your bride's mother?"  
  
"I could argue with Heaven if good it would do her."  
  
A small laugh escaped her as he rounded and walked toward her.   
"If anyone should be called upon to bargain with the gods may all   
agree it should be you." He looked at her once and seated himself   
easily on the top step of the dais at her feet. "But now tell me what   
fears keep you from sleep these nights," she commented  
  
"She is a child of barely fourteen."  
  
"Many have married earlier." The assurance in her voice did not   
settle well in him.  
  
"But one of royal blood should be allowed her youth."  
  
"And do you consider yourself such a heavy burden?" He did not   
need to turn to see the small smile playing on her lips.  
  
"Marriage is a burden strong enough to crush two."  
  
"Marriage is a composite of many things. You should be grateful   
of youth at the beginning. Beginnings are much less easy on the   
aged."  
  
"Beginnings are hard enough on any age, but they compound   
easily." Frustration showed slightly on his brow as he rose again   
and walked back to the window. The twilight of a rainy day   
filtered in to find him there, yet it offered no support to his   
argument. "Must we rush this so much? It has been but a week   
since the news was published of our betrothal, barely over a week   
more and we meet at the alter."  
  
"You should know by now why we are so hurried."  
  
"Knowledge makes me feel no better." Turning sharply he strode   
back to her and paused. "The people have not taken this so badly.   
You received far less than riots in the streets, Mother. Setting   
aside the constant bickering between the Earth and the Moon is   
foremost in everyone's mind. Why not set aside more for   
preparation?"  
  
The queen sat comfortably upon her throne and gazed at her son.   
"The common people now have no joy or worry over your   
alignment. Unfounded bitterness never stalls people's minds long.   
They will be happy to welcome their new princess."  
  
"Then why force this issue so fast?" Hope, that had lain hidden   
and squashed inside him for two weeks dared to rise unbidden in   
him again. "Why not allow us time?"  
  
Sympathy shown clearly in her eyes and all hope again withdrew   
from him. "You know as well as I that the people are pawns that   
some will use to crown themselves, they must not be molded by   
those. It is why your father, I and Queen Selenity worked through   
this in silence for so long; why you were not even told."  
  
"The inner council has collapsed into a mixed group of whining   
old men." He willed anger to flow but the emotion created was   
only a dull blade twisting slowing in his mind.  
  
"And these old men are the ones that you must be cautious of.   
Their fear of the Moon's kingdom is real and strong. Its seat holds   
power over the Solar System and demands strength over us."  
  
Endymion paced slowly down the steps and then back and forth   
before her, contemplating her words. "Why such unfounded fear?   
Surely even they realize that our marriage could not harm them. It   
would place us on par with the Moon."  
  
"There is a long history of hatred between neighbors, a history that   
they shall not leave behind. And there is no such thing as being on   
par with your governor. They fear only that we will be sucked   
more and more under their direct control."  
  
The silence echoed back to her as the young man's gaze was stolen   
by the window's deepening gloom. The queen leaned forward in   
her seat and laid her chin against her hand. "You worry for her?"  
  
Again there was a moment's peace. "Yes, Mother. I fear the   
child's reaction." Finally he turned once more to face her. "I fear   
her fears."  
  
A light laugh escaped her and the woman moved from her seat and   
lightly hugged her son comfortingly. "My dear child, know you   
nothing of this matter? Fears marry each other long before people   
do."  
  
  
"I do say, the poor princess…" The hushed voices became   
nonexistent as Serenity turned the corner. The two High Council   
members nodded to her formally as they passed by down the hall.   
Over the past week she had grown accustomed to the bickering   
officers and half heard conversations. Yet, even with custom she   
felt no better over the fact. Her mother, Queen Selenity, had   
warned her that there would be much talk over her newly   
announced betrothal, yet that left her no comfort either.  
  
"Please, Milady, pay the old men no attention." Idon, her servant   
and confidant, placed a light hand on her arm and led her along   
toward her quarters. "What have they to know of such things?   
Their wives were chosen the same way, and with much worse   
results I think." The girl batted an innocent eyelash as she opened   
her mistress' door for her.  
  
"The elders do not believe in my betrothed." It was nearly the only   
words spoken through dinner and the subsequent entertainment.   
Serenity seemed unable to find words for anything in many nights,   
though her mother had pressed her for speech.  
  
"The elders do not believe in romance either."  
  
"Serenity walked quietly to her balcony doors; opening them she   
motioned the young woman out with her. "You are only a year   
heavier than I, Idon, yet you took your vows more than that time   
ago."  
  
"Yes, and blessedly so. Balder is a good husband to me, and my   
very sanity sometimes." The girl busied herself with retraining the   
ivy on the lacteous work of the palace walls. "You may find   
yourself happy for such an early start."  
  
"He is past the age of manhood." Serenity studied the curve of the   
green and blue planet that hung just at the edge of her perception   
this night. "Is Balder much your senior?"  
  
A happy chuckle resounded from behind her. "Eleven years   
separate us Milady. Though anymore I never notice, save that he   
still cares for me as one would a child. But come," Serenity was   
gently turned to face the other, "why all this worry? Would your   
mother cast her beloved daughter into harm's way?"  
  
She shook her head slowly knowing that it was the truth. "Then   
why all this concern? Earth is not such a barbarous place as some   
would make out. Balder has told me of its beauty many times   
over."  
  
"He has seen it?" For an indescribable reason a joy or hope filled   
her solemn heart.  
  
"Well of course." The girl's brown eyes sparkled in the muted   
twilight. "Most of the palace guards have gone to Earth. It is part   
of their training. You see, even the elders trust their own security   
to men who have had the 'evil planet's' influence on them." She   
giggled lightly and Serenity turned back to the vision of the world.  
  
"He speaks well of it then?"  
  
"Well of it and well of its people." A warm breeze brushed past   
the balcony, catching the hems of her long skirts and the ends of   
her nearly as long blond hair. "If you wish Milady, why not speak   
with someone who has actually been to our neighbor? They can   
tell you more than even the councilor's court."  
  
For once in as many days Serenity broke out into a genuine smile   
and spun back to her maid. "I suppose. You have been wishing   
for me to meet your beloved anyway."  
  
"Indeed Milady! I shall set the meeting up and I have no fear that   
my joyous husband will have no qualms with relating his stay   
there."  
  
The girl bounced slightly as she turned and entered her quarters   
again to prepare it for the night's rest. Serenity gazed once more at   
the disappearing planet, saying a silent prayer that all would be   
right when she finally ventured to its surface.  
  
  
Balder was a tall, strongly built man of twenty and six years. He   
had light, sandy hair and a closely groomed beard to match.   
Closely set dark eyes made him seem more imposing than his light,   
joyous demeanor would naturally allow.  
  
"Princess Serenity," he announced and formally bowed low before   
her. "It is an honor to speak with you Highness, though my wife   
has told me much of you."  
  
Serenity smiled at the man before her. "I too have been told much   
of you." She sat at the small outdoor table and breathed in the   
fragrance of the flower gardens around her for a moment as Idon   
embraced her mate fondly.  
  
"But then, you have come to ask about the planet of your   
betrothed, yes? I warn you that it is not as gentle as our home, but   
it is not as horrible as some would make it be."  
  
The couple seated themselves opposite her and she found herself   
wrapped in Balder's tale. He spoke of the training camp they had   
been stationed in and how it was placed snuggly in the most   
beautiful range of mountains he had ever seen. There were ghostly   
stories of the turbulent changes in weather that seasons on Earth   
brought, and descriptions of the officers of the Earth's defense that   
gave their training.  
  
Serenity swallowed all of it eagerly, not taking the time to sort   
good from bad. Colors filled her imagination as he spoke and a   
renewed longing lit in her to finally see the place where so many of   
her dreams took place.  
  
"In truth Highness, I know not why so many speak ill of the place,   
or of your betrothed. They both sit very well in my memory,"   
Balder concluded his speech.  
  
"My betrothed?" Serenity blinked a bit at the reference. "Do you   
know of him? Of him personally?" An eagerness she had not   
known before galloped to her throat.  
  
"Not personably Highness. Reputations precede many; I have   
heard much. The General of the Earth troops always spoke highly   
of the young prince. Nearly affectionate was he at times, as though   
he were a blood relative. You see Highness, the General had a   
hand in teaching the boy leadership of his army."  
  
"Army? Endymion leads his forces?" The eagerness turned sour   
and cold within her chest. Was this man a warlord?  
  
"Yes Highness, King Odin gave the reigns of command to the   
prince once he reached the age of manhood."  
  
"Is it normal for the son to take such responsibility from his   
father's shoulders?" Visions of the noble, if not crude, prince she   
had been led to see vanished from her mind. The replacement   
found leave to make her even colder than before.  
  
"Not normal, but I dare say natural in this course. The prince is   
claimed to be a superior soldier and fearsome warrior, yet he is   
cunning as few have seen before. Masterful, it is said, with sword   
or strategy." She could detect the hint of awe in the man's voice as   
he recounted this to her.  
  
"It sounds as though he is a true warrior." Only part of her could   
feel the warm sun on her back. The other wished to run from this   
knowledge and never claim it again.  
  
"Indeed it does," Idon interrupted, "but women have no stomach   
for such things. Know you anything more gentile about the man?"  
  
Balder scratched at his chin thoughtfully. "Save for his natural   
leadership, I know no more of him. Though I shall tell you   
Highness, that his cunning is renowned, and though I speak of the   
act of war his pursuits are many. And be it my place or no, I do   
say that love and war are much similar."  
  
  
"Serenity? Darling, are you ready?" Queen Selenity place a   
comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. Princess Serenity   
stood staring silently out of the small windows across the wall of   
the receiving room. It was a bright, warm day, yet she wondered   
what the weather would bring them below.  
  
"Yes Mother," she answered turning to the silver haired woman.   
Her heart hung heavy in her chest but there was an excitement that   
threatened her as well. This would be her first venture off of her   
home world. Even if it was also to be the first meeting of her   
betrothed.  
  
"It is time girls." The queen carefully stepped to the center of the   
room and Serenity and her four guardian soldiers stepped in with   
her. A brilliant flash of rainbowed light assaulted them as they   
vanished.  
  
Serenity had traveled magically before, but never off the Moon.   
She had only a second to contemplate the difference before an   
invisible hand reached out and nearly slapped her to the ground.  
  
She gasped audibly as the light vanished from her eyes. She felt a   
strong arm wrap around her waist to keep her from falling   
backwards as she suddenly felt a lead cloak being draped around   
her shoulders. Looking up she found one of her guardians   
supporting her easily. Lita, of the planet Jupiter, smiled a bit down   
at her.  
  
Only then did Serenity remember her friend's warning of the world   
greater force. The Moon had the lightest gravity of any habitable   
planet locked within their Solar System. Here on Earth it was   
much more normal, unfortunately she found herself unable to stand   
without Lita's support.  
  
"Queen Selenity! It is good to see you again." A beautifully calm   
voice startled her back into reality. She turned, wide-eyed, to look   
toward the direction of the greeting. Her mother locked hands with   
a woman dressed in a flowing, medium blue gown; long black hair   
shimmered around her and was kept back from her face by a tiny   
silver tiara. Deep sea green eyes sparkled as she greeted the other   
queen warmly.  
  
Serenity pushed herself to a straight standing position with Lita's   
help. The taller brown haired girl calmly became a leaning post   
for her as she held one of her arms against her own. Serenity   
welcomed the support as she turned her attention to the rest of the   
welcoming ante rage.  
  
Her mother had moved to take the hands of the man aside this   
woman and Serenity recognized the pair: King Odin and Queen   
Freya of the Earth kingdom then. Yes, this would be the ruling   
couple. The king stood tall with dark brown hair and matching   
beard. Dark blue eyes looked on her mother happily as she turned   
again to face her daughter.  
  
"I am also happy to present my daughter, Princess Serenity to   
you." At the formal introduction Serenity stepped forward, with   
Lita's help, and curtsied low before the two. Rising again she felt   
weighted to the floor.  
  
Her mother introduced all four of her guardians, Mina of Venus,   
Rei of Mars, Amy of Mercury, and Lita of Jupiter. All four bowed   
when their names were called, yet as the introductions were recited   
the princess took the chance to sweep her gaze over the room. To   
her shocked surprise, the royal couple and one other servant were   
alone in attendance. Her betrothed was nowhere to be seen!  
  
The Earth's receiving room was tiled much like their own, except   
that no windows opened out of it. The walls were dressed instead   
with blues and greens, with beautifully carved torch stands   
guarding the room's corners.  
  
Yet there was no one else here to greet them. Serenity's mind   
twirled with that fact and came to no happy conclusions.  
  
"Princess Serenity then." The words caught her by surprise as the   
Earth's queen moved to take her hands. Carefully she released   
Lita's arm, feeling still insecure on her own feet, and embraced the   
woman's hands. "I am happy to finally meet with you."  
  
"As I with you, Queen Freya." There was a genuine enough smile   
on both of their faces, though she knew the older woman was   
much more comfortable with this than she.  
  
"I truly wish I could introduce you to your betrothed, but I fear I   
can not." A look passed her eyes that made Serenity freeze for a   
moment. Worry, a motherly worry, passed her face before she   
turned from her to her mother. "I am afraid Endymion is not   
here."  
  
"Is something wrong?" The second queen was quick to pick up on   
the mood shift as well. "Has something befallen your son?" The   
implication opened Serenity's eyes wider in fear of the answer.   
Though she had never met with the man, and indeed feared their   
union as she would her own death, she felt worry over his health.  
  
"I pray not," Freya replied quickly, yet before she could explain   
herself her husband stepped forward to take his wife's hand in his   
own.  
  
"My wife fears all things in our son's life." There was a slight   
chuckle as the queen turned to regard him incorrigibly. "You see   
Selenity, we have not had the fairest of weather here the last   
month. Constant rain has pounded the ground and swollen the   
rivers to twice their size. I am afraid some of our people are in   
desperate need of help."  
  
"Endymion and Odin have been in constant charge of our reserve   
forces in order to block the flood waters. Though I fear he has not   
yet made it back this evening." Freya concluded squeezing her   
husband's hand just noticeably.  
  
"Evening?" Lita whispered once again at Serenity's side.  
  
She looked up at her guard, barely noticing the reference but   
thinking it odd nonetheless. It was then that she noticed that the   
group of her friends had shrunk around her as they would if she   
were in some physical danger. Though a twinge of fear did claim   
her fragile heart.  
  
"Could he be in danger?" Selenity asked, worry taking her voice a   
note up.  
  
"None at all I am sure," the king spoke in place of his wife. "I   
have every faith in my son and his guardians." He rubbed the back   
of his wife's hand and then kissed it lightly. "We need have no   
fear over his safety."  
  
The reassurance that he gave to the group and to his emotion-  
baring wife did not escape her notice. Such barbarous people were   
these? For the first time since she was told her fate Serenity began   
to see light in her position.  
  
"Indeed I am sure that it is only the most dire of circumstances that   
keeps him from your presence this evening." Freya turned back to   
the young princess and touched her arm lightly. "Yet I am sure he   
will meet with you tonight at dinner."  
  
"I understand, Queen Freya."  
  
  
The castle of the Earth's rulers was a sight to behold. Though   
Serenity hung tightly to Lita's arm lest she tumble to the floor, she   
was in such constant awe of her surroundings that her handicap   
seemed to pale. They were led from the receiving chamber into   
what the king referred to as the Grand Hall.  
  
The group entered from the South passage into something that   
resembled a huge square indoor courtyard. The ceiling rose a full   
six stories above them and was painted in bright colors though she   
could not place their significance. Lamps shown down from a   
servant's balcony that cut across the top floor. Below it stood   
archways silent and three stories tall. Lights attached to their   
pillars gave off a romanced glitter through the marble and granite   
clad hallways stretching to their left and right, leading into the   
mysteries of the castle beyond.  
  
Directly in front of them stood a staircase designed on the grandest   
scale that she had ever witnessed. Its fine curved wood rails stood   
far enough a part that twenty men could pass untouched. The steps   
were polished marble leading up a full story. At the landing it   
curved off in both directions to lead one to the second balcony.  
  
Smaller hidden stairways led through the walls to the subsequent   
balconies of the floors above them visible through the archways   
that supported them. As they trekked toward the step's way,   
Serenity marveled at the ornate bras lamp trees to either side   
lighting the grandeur of the stone and carvings, the paint and   
sculpture locked within these walls.  
  
She heard a soft chuckle and looked back to find the three older   
rulers watching the group of five girls. Her guardians had been   
taken in by the beauty and perfection surrounding them as she had   
been. They stood in the center of the hall watching the walls in   
awe as though they should come to life before them.  
  
"I am pleased that our humble estate can still swade youth to   
admiration," Freya said happily still watching them as the princess   
blushed slightly at being caught.  
  
"May I say that your palace seems humble in nothing, Queen   
Freya."  
  
"Indeed, your architecture is of the grandest scale, Your   
Highness," Ami commented from behind her. Her gentle spoken,   
intellectual friend would no doubt be more interested than even the   
rest to know the details of the room's design.  
  
"Thank you, I will make sure that you receive the full tour, but you   
are not used to the time change yet. Perhaps in the morning we   
will find the time to explore the palace proper."  
  
The girls nodded eagerly as the queen, with her husband at her   
side, made their way up the stairway and on again to the second   
floor. Without much ceremony they directed the six women to   
their assigned rooms and reminded them that two hours remained   
until dinner was to be served.  
  
Lita helped Serenity to her door where she was waved off from her   
burden by the maidservant who had followed the group from the   
receiving room. The queen took a moment to introduce the two   
before following after her husband and Queen Selenity. The   
woman of perhaps better than fifty years was named Minerva, head   
of the palace's servants and general over-seer for the daily running   
of the house.  
  
She bowed slightly to her as her name was mentioned, but there   
seemed so much to be a confidence and friendly manner between   
herself and the queen that it seemed unpracticed. The older   
woman took her arm as the others entered their own chambers.  
  
"I am pleased to finally meet you, Princess," she said easily. "I   
have heard much of you though." She helped Serenity to sink into   
a soft sitting couch set in front of the fireplace and though there   
was no flame in it she still felt warmed by its presence.  
  
The server-woman went on to arranging the room as Serenity   
looked about her new quarters. A plush white rug lay over the   
floor, and the chair and couch she lay upon were done the same. A   
beautiful red wood was used on the furnishings as well as the   
doors, but the mantle and widespread window off to her right were   
done in carved white stone.  
  
Set in the far, muted blue, wall the window caught her attention.   
Outside it was dim, but heavy clouds could be seen crowding the   
sky and the raindrops fell diligently against the darkening glass.  
  
"Your bags will be brought along by the servants soon but if you   
wish…" Serenity heard Minerva trail to halt in her rambling   
speech and turned to face the woman.  
  
"Your prince is still out in this? Even with the weather the queen   
said that you have been plagued with?" She could not name the   
numbing emotion within her.  
  
The woman smiled gently down at her and for the first time she   
saw wisdom filled brown eyes that searched hers. Brown hair,   
graying at the temples and salted here and there, was swept into a   
crown of braids on top of her head. And she stood above her now   
and nodded and bit sadly.  
  
"Endymion and his generals are without to this hour. I do know   
that he wished to be here in order to meet you properly, though I   
can not tell you what keeps him." She too turned to the window,   
eying the storm.  
  
Serenity watched with her a moment, pausing to wonder at the   
woman's use of the prince's given name, before attempting to raise   
herself from the couch. Though the unusual gravity clawed at her,   
she rose on her own and waved off Minerva's helpful hand gently.   
Cautiously she made her way across to the window before turning   
back to the maid. "If I am to remain here a week I had best to   
learn to walk under pressure," she stated, making light of her   
handicap.  
  
"Indeed, just do not exhaust yourself too soon," the other   
cautioned. Serenity nodded and leaned against the cool stone   
around the window. Looking out she could catch only the last   
fleeting glimmers of sunlight which tinged the westerly edges of   
clouds a lighter shade of blue. There seemed no end to the quilted   
blanket covering over the sky and rain splashed cold against the   
glass.  
  
"Do you know the prince?" She hugged her arms to her and   
continued to watch what she could of the raindrops.  
  
Minerva's chuckle was soft but knowing. "Indeed, I feel I can say   
I do." Serenity turned to regard her. The maid walked gracefully   
to stop in front of her as though to keep vigil of the rain with her.   
"I was there at his birth and have not left his confidence since."  
  
She gazed up at the woman, searching her face and her words for   
indications of her betrothed. The woman's voice held a warm note   
to it and her eyes, softly scanning the dripping weather without,   
were touched with worry. Closing them momentarily as though in   
prayer she opened them again to the young princess.  
  
"But now, you must be curious of your bride-groom."  
  
"Can you tell me of him?" she asked meekly.  
  
Minerva smiled happily down at her. "Of course I can. I would   
like it no other way," she mused merrily. Gracefully she glided   
back towards the couch as Serenity slowly followed, wondering if   
this woman was not royalty under false garments. She was certain   
that this servant practiced her part more than she found herself   
capable of just now.  
  
Once the two were settled in comfort the older woman turned with   
all seriousness to her newfound pupil. "Tell me what you have   
heard of him."  
  
The youth found herself nearly tortured by her lack of knowledge   
and reluctant to speak her mind though the other showed no signs   
of beginning the conversation of her own. "I fear I know very little   
of my betrothed. The Elders of the Moon do not hold him in such   
right esteem, though others do. I have been told that he holds a   
great title for himself as an excellent warrior."  
  
Minerva's soft laughter halted her retelling. "Oh indeed, our dear   
Endymion is very renown for his prowess and strategy. That does   
seem to be the most outstanding of his reputations, but it is far   
from his only one. Heard you nothing else?"  
  
Serenity felt a small beam of light shine through the darkening   
room. A light of her own hope. These people were nothing of the   
barbarous race she had mistakenly envisioned, and in truth the   
groom for her wedding may sit well with her despite all fears that   
she possessed. "I do know no more of him, until now I had feared   
a warlord."  
  
Again the woman chuckled and turned to the small table aside her   
to heighten the lamplight. "No child, nothing of the sort. Men   
speak of his knowledge of war, yet I myself have never seen it in   
him, though I certainly have no fear of my safety while the army is   
under his control."  
  
"Then he has taken the forces from the king's control?"  
  
"Indeed," she nodded to her. "Though his father holds every   
control over it as he did, but his son controls the title and   
responsibility. But now, do such things truly interest you,   
Princess?"  
  
She smiled back at the sparkle in the other's eyes. Curling her   
knees up close and leaning heavily into the white cushions of the   
couch she prepared to listen. "I suppose not. What else can you   
tell me about the prince?"  
  
"Oh, I can tell you much, though I do not believe he would   
appreciate your hearing of my stories." They found themselves   
wrapped with giggles and Serenity began to feel warm, even with   
such variables and pressures upon her.  
  
She had ventured outside of her safe little world, and though she   
still felt assaulted, there was light to her world once more. Fears   
crowded close but Minerva had offered her an ear as well as a path.   
Yet she had gained more than just that, she had gained a friend.   
And a friend that knew so much…  
  
  
The hallways echoed back hurried footsteps as Endymion rushed   
into the Grand Hall. The lamps burned with a much preferred   
warm glow as he shrugged off the saturated riding cloak. Cold   
rainwater dripped from its hem and clung to the young prince's   
hair and clothing. Hurriedly he scanned the corridors for signs of   
life, yet he saw no one that would imply that the Moon's court had   
arrived. Could they have been delayed after all?  
  
"Endymion! Where on dear Earth have you been?" He stopped   
and watched Minerva sweep down the staircase. With a groan he   
stood to confront her roaming eye. In one scowling look she took   
in the drenched black uniform, gleaming silver armor, tousled hair   
and tired expression. "Do you realize how late you are?"  
  
He sighed and began his hurried march up the stairs past her. "I   
suppose that it would be too much to hope that the group was   
delayed then?"  
  
"Much to much!" she said following behind him. "The queen   
seems to be the punctual type." Minerva took the cloak from his   
hands and stopped his steps demanding his jacket as well. "You   
have not long before dinner either. It is not normally a good thing   
to leave your betrothed deserted."  
  
"I meant nothing of the sort," he said unclasping the heavy black   
jacket he wore over his breastplate. "At the same time, I can not   
imagine it went over well."  
  
"No, your mother is worried terribly. What has befallen Liddrall   
that you were away so long?" There was more than a slight worry   
in her tone and Endymion stopped and looked at the woman before   
him. She had been more than a maid to him, more even than a   
friend, nearly a second mother through his life.  
  
"The banks of the river can not be seen. The flood took with it   
farm land and meadows but it did not succeed in taking the town.   
Every man to be found, and most of the women, took to blocking   
the water's advances, but your sister's schoolhouse stands dry."   
He touched her shoulder reassuringly, "Which is a good thing, it   
would have taken the five of us to drag her out of it."  
  
The older woman smiled and nodded thankfully to him. "I am as   
thankful of that as to know that you and your generals have   
returned safety."  
  
He sighed once more and attempted to focus on what lay ahead of   
him yet this night. "So tell me then, what is your report of my   
young bride?"  
  
He was surprised to see a smile spread widely on her face. "Oh I   
believe you will find her a lovely child."  
  
He paused to look at her a moment. "Minerva, I have had your   
opinion of every visitor to this castle and never have you   
sugarcoated your judgment of them to me." Continuing to shed his   
armor he began to climb once again.  
  
She blinked innocently at him as she followed behind. "And do   
you believe I contradict myself now?"  
  
Endymion continued his trek to the first landing of the stairway.   
"Never in all my years have you found a single person without   
their flaws, especially any potential suitor. Why should you start   
now?" Turning to her he prepared himself for any truth he would   
gain from her. "Tell me your true judgment."  
  
She looked up at him from her petite frame and found his eyes.   
"My true judgment is the same. She is a lovely girl, Endymion."   
There was the slightest of hesitations as she lost her gaze from his   
again. "Yet she is still a child."  
  
A child, so his bride seemed as young as her years would indicate.   
Yet she was to be married in barely more than a week to a man   
she, as yet, knew nothing of. Again the prince felt a protective   
anger at this injustice to her.  
  
"Oh do not begin again with that look," she scolded. "I wish to   
hear no more about your theories of hurting her in this rushed   
marriage."  
  
He looked at her a bit surprised by the emotional berating but knew   
where this came from. "Am I to take it then that you have been   
talking with her?"  
  
She smiled happily at him, "I have only now just left her. She is a   
truly sweet girl, curious and enthusiastic, yet lost in her present   
situation. She's frightened as any bride would be but she holds   
you accountable for none of it."  
  
"Frightened?" he asked. What new fears would she be having that   
he had not thought of?  
  
"Frightened of much. She is an emotional child whose heart   
always leads. It seems part of her charm," she added smiling as   
she took his arm and led him through the main door towards his   
rooms. "Though I shall tell you to be extremely gentle and slow   
with one so innocent."  
  
The two hurried down the main first-floor hall oblivious of the   
young blond haired woman standing within the shadows of the   
balcony pillars only a story above their heads. The small figure   
slowly turned from her half seen position to shakily retreat towards   
her own rooms.  
  
  
@}---_____________  
"I don't think of myself as single. I'm romantically challenged." -   
Stephanie Piro  
  
"Friendship is one mind in two bodies." – Menclus  
  



	3. Chapter 2

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: The meeting of a destined couple… the beginning to so much   
more. Dedicated to the true couples of the world, do not forsake   
pure love for romance!  
  
  
Chapter 2  
@}---  
  
  
The deep blackness of the night could only be put out by the   
brightest of flames. Though as Serenity began her decent of the   
Grand Hall's stairway she no longer felt the heaviness of the rain   
drops she had spent the last hour watching.  
  
The torch stands stood regal and majestic, emitting buttered light   
about the mass of people below. Her mother, whom now walked   
to her left, had warned her that this would be an event that would   
see the whole of the planet turned out for. Indeed it seemed true.  
  
She marveled at the extravagance and colors that floated past her.   
The throng of people spread and bulged around them as an   
honorary passage was cleared for the Queen of the Moon and her   
daughter's court. Yet as they passed in a muted din she could feel   
all eyes turned to her and riveted to her movements, which were   
still labored by the unusual weight they carried.  
  
Serenity mentally restrained herself from turning to catch their   
stares and instead placed up a polite smile for those who she could   
catch in her straight posture's focus. Though inside she felt   
nothing but the turning of her stomach.  
  
Even on their travel here she did not feel such fear at the prospect   
of meeting the prince as she did now. Coming here, she had found   
many of her fears unfounded though she was still locked deeply   
within terror's talons.  
  
They descended slowly and crossed the Grand Hall towards her   
left. Men dressed gallantly in robes of state or partial dress-armor   
mutely clamored about with women groomed in flowing gowns of   
every shading of her imagination. Though her and her mother   
were dressed in the royal white of the Moon Kingdom she saw few   
others robed in that composite color.  
  
Their group came upon two brass doors standing open before   
them. Was Serenity not of a subdued state of mind she would have   
gasped out right at the sight laid out before her. The golden clad   
doors stood perhaps over two stories tall and were carved over on   
both sides with an entwined design of roses.  
  
Held within them was the scene of the room beyond with its warm,   
bright light flooding out to them. The floor within gleamed of   
white marble, polished to pristine beauty. The walls were also of a   
white plaster, though little of it could be seen.  
  
Stepping up to the doors she could see the room proper and   
realized that to dub this a room would be of the utmost   
understatement. Surrounding her was fully half of one of the   
castle's turret towers. They stood facing that last quarter of the   
round tower that peered into the courtyard at the heart of the palace   
as great panes of glass showed out into the rainy night in the   
gardens.  
  
In the center of the floor was a square area larger than even the   
Grand Hall she had marveled at only hours before. Sunk into the   
floor by perhaps six steps, the clearing likely served as the   
ballroom floor. Around the sides of this stood tables and people   
awaiting the banquet.  
  
Slightly off to the sides of the great square stood silent marble   
columns leading up to where balconies ran on either side of the   
room, a level over their heads. Though, she noticed, the two   
balconies did not meet, but instead both came to meet the far wall   
of glass. Free standing spiral staircases made from golden brass   
with inlaid marble steps made ascent possible towards the second   
floor.  
  
So stunned was she that her mother nudged her arm, which was   
wrapped through her own, to call her attention to the page that was   
beginning their introduction to all assembled. It was then that her   
bewildered eyes fell towards the far wall.  
  
The focus of the room was placed on what she presumed to be the   
head table, laid out under the two double story windows. Yet it   
was the group standing at the end of the ballroom floor, watching   
them, that took her heavy breath. She immediately recognized the   
royal King and Queen of Earth, though her momentarily awe-  
inspired loss of fright was dashed quickly upon seeing five young   
men standing with them.  
  
The page read through the formalities of State and the queen glided   
down the steps to the floor below, with her daughter on her arm.   
Serenity studied the marble beneath her as she descended. Each   
step was outlined in a swirled pattern of deep green and blue   
jasper; a small accent but one that strangely calmed her.  
  
The beautiful green and blue orb that her home circled around was   
now beneath her feet. Though the reasons were frightening for   
being here, this was still the place of her dreams. She straightened   
herself to look up at the group she was approaching with a new   
excitement. Could this be her dream?  
  
She could tell that four of the young men were arranged behind the   
royal… yet one stood on par with the ruling couple. Could this   
then be her betrothed, Endymion, prince of the Earth Kingdom,   
soon to be her wedded husband?  
  
He stood tall, as tall as his father aside him, garbed in shinning   
light-armor. Black complimented the silver metal encasing his   
shoulders, torso, and lower legs and feet. A high collared jacket   
was placed over his breastplate ornamented with silver threading.   
A red lined black cape back dropped his soldier-like frame, and his   
mother's black hair crowned him more powerfully than gold or   
jewels.  
  
Could this truly be the same man that she had heard speak from the   
shadows merely an hour before? Though she had not meant to   
eavesdrop upon him and Minerva, she had taken the chance to   
leave her rooms and practice her over-burdened movements, when   
she had been roused by the head servant's voice.  
  
Serenity had not managed a glimpse of him before this moment,   
though she imagined a softer man that could speak with gentleness   
as he did of Minerva's sister. Was this the man she feared as a   
warlord? He seemed to have commanding enough presence for it,   
yet she felt no hostility centered in him. On closer appearances she   
saw him watching her as fixedly as she was him.  
  
For reasons she could not explain she felt flushed upon walking   
into his countenance. She did not meet eyes to his as her mother   
stopped before her peers and exchanged quiet words of greeting   
again.  
  
It was King Odin that instead made the introduction for his son to   
the Queen. Endymion took her hand and bowed formally to her,   
though Serenity could hear nothing through the beat of her heart   
within her own chest. The Earth's king then turned to her and,   
with perhaps too hearty of a smile, spoke to her.  
  
"Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom, I am honored to finally   
unite you with your betrothed, my son Prince Endymion." She   
carefully extended her hand to him when he offered his own and   
curtsied before him. Yet as he took her hand within his grasp she   
felt an electric shock ripple through her.  
  
She came up a bit startled as she looked at him bowing before her.   
Her gaze met directly with two of the most perfect, midnight blue   
eyes, looking softly back into hers. As she rose he brought her   
hand to his lips in the slightest of kisses before returning to his   
straight height. The princess found herself more than flushed as   
she stayed locked within his eyes.  
  
"I am sorry that I was not able to great you earlier today, Princess,   
though nothing short of this flood would have taken me away."  
  
Serenity smiled at his words, believing him without question. "I   
am pleased to meet you as well, Prince Endymion." He smiled   
back at her before she found herself tugged aside with her mother.  
  
She slipped slowly to the side as the formalities were made for her   
four guardians. Once the girls were named the other four men   
were ushered to the front and she became increasingly surprised   
that it was the prince who made their introductions to her court.  
  
"I have the honor of presenting my own guardians and generals of   
the Earth's forces. My high general, Kunzite." A man of perfect   
stature stepped forward and bowed first to herself and her mother   
and then again to the assembled tutelaries. More than shoulder   
length silver hair caped his face and tanned skin. Brilliant crystal   
blue eyes traced over the group with the cool well-practiced grace   
of a professional protector… or assassin.  
  
"My advisor and strategist, Nephrite." The next in line stepped   
forward to repeat Kunzite's example. Dark, waving brown hair   
dropped past his shoulders, though without the pristine demeanor   
of the former general, he also demanded a confident presence and   
measured eye to details.  
  
"My third general is Zoicite, charged with matters of the law and   
affaires of state." The man in question came forward and revealed   
shorter, light brown hair framing fair skin and accented by vivid   
green eyes. Slightly smaller in stature than his predecessors there   
was something swift and shifty about him that made one wish to   
keep an eye focused on his movements.  
  
"General Jadeite is the newest recruit to my court. He acts as a   
historian and messenger." Though the other three generals seemed   
impassive and formal in the women's sights, this general smiled   
flirtatiously about all of her guardians freely, catching each of their   
eyes as he bowed before them. A gleam of mischief showed in his   
green eyes, and his short blond hair was swept away from his face   
with perfection.  
  
The assembled group was certainly an imposing force to behold,   
though Serenity found herself more awe-inspired than frightened.   
The four guards stood clothed in dress armor much akin to their   
lord's, though each seemed liken to different colors and Kunzite   
was the only one to sport a cape of white and blue.  
  
King Odin smiled approvingly of the groups. "Indeed, a better   
guardian court was not to be found." Turning to Queen Selenity he   
took her hand a moment, "I believe both our charges shall be well   
looked after." There was a nod of agreement from her mother as   
Serenity stole a glance over the eight warriors pledged to their   
protection, and somehow wondered why they should be in need of   
such.  
  
  
The banquet passed quickly without Serenity's notice. She felt   
excitement rush through her at every turn of events yet she   
contented herself with the act of simple resignation for those   
around her to see. Chatting was kept to the minimum and she   
found herself idle most of the meal. Idle except perhaps for her   
eyes.  
  
The head table, laid out before her, was over laid with a white   
tablecloth and vases of beautiful flowers were arranged down it.   
One such vase sat in front of her, with blushed pink flowers   
overflowing from the crystal holding them.  
  
Her mother had smiled at the arrangement as they were seated and   
explained quietly that on Earth at a formal gathering of such, the   
betrothed couple would be ornamented by pink roses. At the   
mention of roses she took a closer inspection of the vase.  
  
"Yet they do not look like our roses, how are they colored?" she   
asked, lightly brushing one with her hand.  
  
"The soil and growth of many things are different here, Serenity.   
Flowers come in all colors and they may look or smell different   
from our own gardens. You will find many variations." She had   
answered quietly. "Roses are an important symbol, much the same   
as they are on the Moon, only here each color has separate   
meaning."  
  
Serenity had turned to listen whole-heartedly to the explanation as   
her mother quietly continued. "The light pink stands for joy, and   
hope for happiness, that is why a destined couple is presented with   
them."  
  
She wondered how such implications could be given to a simple   
flower, yet as she cautiously eyed down the length of the table the   
only other vase of pink sat before the prince. Only the three ruling   
members sat between them, and yet she somehow felt distanced   
from him. But her wondering eyes had much else to entertain   
them.  
  
The room, lights, colors, the people themselves, everything envied   
her imagination. A happy cloud of dreaming fog blurred her vision   
and it soon became her leading guardian's job to keep her from   
nodding to sleep. The blond woman from Venus began to banter   
with her over which of the prince's generals was the most fair and   
she soon found all of her court's members wrapped in the   
conversation.  
  
Admittedly the princess felt a bit silly at the comments being   
spoken so close to their offending counterparts and though   
implored, she kept her tongue as to her thoughts of "her" prince.   
Somehow such things seemed displaced so near to her wedding.  
  
The meal was soon finished and it was the musicians who   
occupied the crowd's attention. Several songs were ended before   
she began to wonder why no one had yet taken the floor. From the   
corner of her eye she saw the Earth's ruling couple rise and begin   
their way down the steps to the dance floor.  
  
Serenity watched them a moment as the remainder of the room's   
inhabitants did also. There seemed an unwritten rule that the   
ruling couple would begin the dance themselves before others   
could join. It was a custom that showed much respect and   
devotion to king and queen, and something she had the impulse to   
ask her mother of, when she likewise saw the crowned prince stand   
from his place.  
  
A sudden shock of terror ran the length of her spine as he came   
toward her. She locked eyes with him as he approached and her   
heart found leave to jump to her throat so that its insistent beating   
could be heard louder by her ears. The near silent, mocking   
exclamations from her four friends did not settle her either as they   
exclaimed over how proper it would be to have them on the floor   
together for the first dance.  
  
With all flourish deemed necessary in such a formal setting,   
Endymion bowed to her and offered his hand. "May I have the   
honor of a dance with you, Princess?"  
  
She shakily smiled and nodded. Her fears were more than founded   
as she extended her hand to his. Serenity was still unrecovered   
from the unusual heaviness of her body on this strange planet. Yet   
she took his hand and let him raise her to her feet.  
  
The journey to the dance floor found her only thought to be of   
small prayers so that she did not stumble to her face in the   
presence of all assembled. Imagine the entire planet's   
conversation centered over the klutz of a princess deemed to marry   
their prince! Oh yes, the future heir of the System falling on her   
face with her first step off the Moon.  
  
She managed to the floor gracefully and the prince stopped to face   
her, bowing graciously again as custom would have. She curtsied   
also before him and bit her lip as she rose again feeling the strain   
in her legs growing. Perhaps Lady Mar's suggestion to work with   
her guardians during their training exercises would be beneficial   
after all. Not so much for self-protection, as her keeper had stated,   
but for simple upkeep of her body if her new position found her on   
this planet often. Why did none of her advisors tell her these   
useful things before she landed in such a situation?  
  
Gently he moved her to a respectful distance and began to twill her   
about the room as his parents were also doing. She was carefully   
counting each movement and only realized that she was watching   
her feet when she heard him speak softly to her hair. "I believe I   
would find it an insult if you find your shoes more interesting than   
I?"  
  
She looked up at him a bit startled for being interrupted and   
succeeded in stumbling over her hem. She tripped but recovered   
quickly due to the balance that the prince provided for her, and   
with a small circle placed strategically into their dance steps, he   
also covered beautifully. Although nothing that he could do would   
keep the bright blush from possessing her checks.  
  
"Forgive me. I did not mean to throw you off balance."  
  
There was a slightly amused humor that she heard in his voice and   
Serenity did not appreciate it. "It is not your fault, I have been off   
balance since I arrived here. I am not use to such gravity," she   
mumbled to make her excuse. It would serve her no good to have   
her husband thinking of her as an unruly adolescent.  
  
She instead began to take in the views of the dance floor, the wall,   
anything but the man she was moving about with. Others had now   
begun to take the floor and as the next song began they continued   
whirling about. "I had forgotten about that in all of this. Has this   
been your first trip away from home?"  
  
She looked up at him again. There were very few that referred to   
their seat of power as "home" even when speaking with the Royal   
Family. "Yes. I should have been more prepared for this, but I   
never took to heart the differences that I would find."  
  
"You must be all but overwhelmed." There was genuine concern   
centered in his eyes and she began to relax in his embrace. She   
nodded and again set her mind to take in this man that she was   
destined to marry.  
  
He looked away absently a moment, locked in memory it seemed.   
"I have forgotten how different the Moon is from us. I remember   
little of it, but while there I found myself checking to see if I was   
floating or not."  
  
She looked up at him a bit shocked; when had he ventured to the   
Moon? "You have visited?" she asked spontaneously.  
  
He smiled at her a bit and chuckled lightly before nodding. "Once,   
when I was still very small. I do not remember much else. Only   
the feeling I suppose. It is like nowhere else."  
  
Serenity felt pride touch her as his words did. There were always   
compliments from those who visited her home, yet his casual   
sentence brought more emotion to her then all of those carefully   
crafted compliments combine. "Thank you," she said quietly   
studying the silver threading on his jacket.  
  
"Princess?" he asked. She again looked up to his much taller   
height and felt her head swim a bit. "Are you all right?"  
  
"I am sorry," she said quickly. "This is wearing on me horribly."   
Indeed she felt a bit light headed and her body was weighted now   
more than ever.  
  
Strategically he waltzed them to the side of the floor and escorted   
her to the head table again, careful to supply her with an arm lest   
she need the balance. They found that both of their courts had   
taken the dance floor as well. Even her mother was enjoying the   
festivities on the arm of one of the Earth's High Council. She   
could not help but feel a touch self-conscious as she could sense   
half the eyes in the room turn to them as he helped her into her seat   
again.  
  
"I would not concern yourself much over what the court thinks.   
They are notorious for finding something to gossip over no matter   
what the situation." She looked up at his comment, smiling   
appreciatively.  
  
"I am sorry for being so bewildered."  
  
He slid into what had been her mother's seat and lounged next to   
her for the time. "Do not be. In truth I wondered if you would   
even be here." She looked at him oddly a moment before he   
smiled at her. "Princesses normally are not above barricading   
themselves in their quarters when confronted by something they   
are angered at."  
  
For the first time since they met she smiled whole-heartedly at the   
young man before her. Light heartedness reflected in his words,   
and she felt herself growing more comfortable with him here.   
There was an ease between them. "And who is to say that I was   
angered over this?"  
  
He placed his arm over the back of his chair and leaned his head on   
his hand, gazing at her. "And do you consider this an appropriate   
wedding plan?"  
  
Serenity crossed her arms in her lap and watched them. "I do not   
know how appropriate this is, yet I am well aware of my station."  
  
There was a pause during which she was reminded of several   
dozen fears that still clung tightly to her heart and pried at her   
mind. She felt him lean towards her a bit a whisper quietly, "Are   
you normally this submissive or have you simply given up hope?"  
  
His question plagued her a moment and she did not raise her eyes   
to look at him. Had she now resigned herself so completely to this   
placement? What choice did she have? In essence, what choice   
did either of them possess?  
  
She felt him place a finger under her chin and raise it to look at   
him. There was again, the same light shock that she noticed when   
they met. His touch was soothing to her mind and she wondered at   
it. Yet she gazed up into his eyes, still a respective distance away,   
and found nothing but concern.  
  
"Please tell me Princess, what are your feelings of this match?"  
  
"I am resigned to this mating," she whispered the same words that   
she had spoken to her mother less than a sun's journey ago.  
  
"And yet?" he pushed.  
  
"And yet," she stammered a bit, searching for words. "And yet, I   
have hope for the out come of our marriage. It is the last hope that   
I hold on to," she confided. Her voice was nothing but a murmur   
but the prince seemed to hear. He nodded silently and dropped his   
hand from her chin again seemingly digesting her words.  
  
"I too have hope for us, Princess. Again, if nothing else can be   
hoped for."  
  
She studied his face a moment before asking, "Then you were not   
inclined to this marriage?"  
  
He chuckled a bit at her and nodded again. "I have trouble with   
the time frame we are running on."  
  
"Indeed," she agreed, "I suppose this way they keep us from   
running away."  
  
He smiled honestly at her speech and secretly took her hand, which   
lay beneath the table's coverings. "I promise I will not run if you   
promise also."  
  
She smiled warmingly and nodded easily. She again felt herself   
calm and dwell on the peace that they could come to this night. It   
was then that Serenity noticed her hand in his once more. Was it   
only her imaginings or did his touch truly have an affect on her?   
She thought of it a moment and looked up to find him absently   
watching the dancers on the floor. Contemplating his profile she   
began to wonder as she remembered the slight shocks that she had   
found herself subject to this evening.  
  
Catching her gaze he looked at her a bit quizativly. "Princess?"  
  
"Forgive me," she looked down to her lap and slid her hand out of   
his, careful to notice the difference in feel. Minusculy she felt the   
slightest force leave her as if some magnetic field was broken from   
around her. What kind of sorcery was this?  
  
"No, forgive me, Princess." She looked up to stare into his deep   
blue eyes. "As yet, I am not use to you."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
He smiled at her inquisition. "To tell you that means that I have to   
explain myself." Serenity simply waited for him to continue so he   
began in a low voice suited for her ears alone.  
  
"Much as your guardians take special powers from their home   
planets, as I know, I too have certain gifts. They are ones that have   
not been seen within my line here on Earth for many years, so   
information is roughly sketched, but my powers come from the   
senses of this planet. I have the gift of psychometry, through my   
hands I can mentally sense anything I touch."  
  
She involuntarily looked towards his hand, which was again   
propping up his chin, before meeting his eyes again. "Was that   
what I felt when you took my hand? This mental probe of yours   
attempting to 'feel' me?"  
  
The prince's eyes blinked back at her words as though thrown off   
of his well practiced guard. Silently he shook his head and a small   
smile crept at the corner of his mouth. The princess found herself   
becoming much more uncomfortable with each quick breath she   
drew until he spoke.  
  
"Please Princess, you need not think harshly of me. It is true that   
my powers may be used to look through any person who I could   
bring within my touch but I have never found reason or morality   
enough to do so." He again smiled quietly as he gazed down at   
her. "Most, even within these walls, do not know of my power. I   
have no intention of making it public knowledge without sufficient   
justification as to the panic it would cause among my Councils. In   
truth, close to no one has ever felt my touch directly."  
  
Serenity wondered at his words. "You say then that no one else   
feels as I did when we touched?"  
  
"Not many, Princess. My mother was the first to see my power   
when I was a child. My father, also, felt it as did my four   
guardians, though outside of them, few else have seen it."  
  
"Then you say," she paused looking instead at the pink roses still   
settled on the table's top, "that I have felt something that most of   
your own planet do not?"  
  
"Indeed it would seem as such," he said attempting to look into her   
eyes as much as she would allow. "Though I am not much   
surprised. I am told that your own gifts may even rival your   
mother's."  
  
There was a rising of one eyebrow as she detected a slight tease   
behind the prince's words. Could this highly praised lord of such   
an "untamed" planet be capable in small words of jest? Either way   
the words brought a light pink rush to her checks. "Do not believe   
the rumors, I am no match to my mother's abilities."  
  
She did not raise her chin with her reply and there was a moment's   
pause as the two sat deafly listening to the music floating over   
them. "Forgive me, Princess. I did not mean to touch an   
uncomfort in you."  
  
Again, for some reason, Serenity was inclined to take his words as   
truth. Perhaps she was being too trusting of this man she had only   
met, yet she sensed no ill will from him; had no reason to suspect   
him. Though she was not the part of the pair who could sense   
other so well.  
  
"Might I ask something of you?" she questioned, attempting to   
desperately escape the former subject.  
  
"Anything you desire, Princess," he answered formally.  
  
Once more she relaxed the tense lump in her throat. "If you do not   
directly sense someone with your power, what can you feel?"  
  
Serenity was taken slightly aback as he smiled easily at her. "I had   
believed it would be a challenge to tell you of this, yet you seem   
curious enough to understand me."  
  
She blinked a few times not understanding him. "What do you   
mean?"  
  
"Most would find the thought disconcerting at the least. I would   
say that most of those again would not trust their own minds while   
in my presence," he explained.  
  
She nodded, understanding her own uneasiness as something more   
since this conversation began. "I can see how many would find   
themselves intimidated."  
  
"Unfortunately it is true." There was a close to defeated sigh   
inside his voice but he gazed down easily at her. "Yet to answer   
your question, I can sense vaguely a person's mood or emotions if   
they are strong. I can also give or take away from those emotions   
by offering my own thought, though this is not usually a conscious   
effort."  
  
She gazed at him stilly a moment before gathering her question.   
"Is that the calmness that I have felt with you this evening?"  
  
Again she caught the flicker in his eyes as though surprise claimed   
him for the barest of moments. "You intrigue me, Princess. My   
attempts at such things are normally much too subtle for even my   
guardians to notice." He gazed at her studyingly a moment, "Does   
it bother you? I truly mean no harm or interference by it. In truth,   
this night I have set this to calm myself more than it was to have   
any affect over you. I rarely use it, though tonight we have both   
been walking a broken bridge."  
  
"It is a frightening power you hold," she carefully admitted.  
  
"Please do not fear it, once I become use to your presence my   
senses become immune to you, so to speak."  
  
"Immune?" He nodded quietly as they noticed Mina, Lady Venus,   
wave to them slightly as she whizzed by between the arms of the   
high general Kunzite. They both smiled at the pair as they   
promenaded onward. Spirits raised again they turned back to each   
other. And though the princess could feel herself being drug down   
more by fatigue, her curiosity would not let her loose her   
perception of reality.  
  
"I hardly notice it when I am within my own circle. They are   
familiar and nearly unreadable unless I concentrate on them," he   
continued, though looked at her a bit oddly. "Princess?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
In truth she was bordering on exhaustion and she again felt a touch   
lightheaded by her surroundings. "Yes, simply tired is all."  
  
"I do know that these festivities get long." She silently agreed and   
again watched the couples turning and moving about the floor.   
The lighting had been dimmed as the music had come up and small   
lamps shining down from the second floor balconies made for a   
romantic atmosphere. She truly wished that she could enjoy this   
more.  
  
"This is truly a beautiful place," she mused more to herself than   
anyone. "I never imagined my dream was true." The happy fog   
that she found herself in cleared slightly as she felt Endymion   
nudge her on the arm.  
  
"I am afraid to warn you of what might happen should you have   
that dream in the flower vase in front of you."  
  
She blinked a few times to bring the pink roses back into focus as   
the pillowy mist lifted from her completely. "Oh," she mumbled.   
"I am in danger of falling asleep on the table!"  
  
She heard him chuckle and turned to give him a rather unamused   
look. He took it in stride and slowly rose to his feet, offering her   
his hand once more. "I do believe that your escape has been   
planned."  
  
She looked at him confused, not truly wanting to be helped to her   
feet again. He looked over her head and nodded to someone   
entering behind her. "Queen Selenity, Council Bob." *  
  
Serenity started and let herself be carried to her feet by the prince   
in order to turn to her mother. The woman held a happy smile on   
her face and easily excused herself from the High Council member   
she had been with. "You seem tired, Serenity."  
  
"I suppose the trip has not been kind to me."  
  
Her mother took her arm in her own and nodded to the prince.   
"She is completely unaccustomed to this difference."  
  
"As I can well imagine, my Queen."  
  
Turning again to her daughter the queen looked her over   
appraisingly. "I believe we should take the chance to retire early.   
We can use this night's rest." Serenity nodded back easily as she   
noticed that her guardians were gathering next to the table. "I shall   
excuse us from the king and queen if you will do the same with   
your escort?"  
  
The small jest was enough to bring a blush to her checks again for   
no reason she could name. "I will," she mumbled.  
  
Endymion stepped forward and bowed the queen. "Have a   
pleasant night, Queen Selenity. It is an honor for us to have you   
under our shelter."  
  
"Thank you, Prince Endymion. It is an honor to be excepted here."   
Selentiy made her pleasantries and went again to take leave of their   
hosts.  
  
"Will you be all right to find yourself to your rooms?" he asked   
once she was out of hearing.  
  
Serenity nodded and motioned to her assembled guardians near the   
foot of the table. "The others will be by my side to ensure I find   
the hall well enough."  
  
He smiled at her once more and bowed to kiss her hand again.   
"May I set up a meeting with you in the morning? I may well be   
gone before breakfast is served but would you join me for a tour of   
the palace afterwards?"  
  
"I would be honored. I do wish to see this place," she motioned   
around her again to encompass the expanse of the castle around   
them. The thought of seeing it all sent her to a much lighter step   
though she was much too close to being bowed to the flooring.  
  
He chuckled again at her enthusiasm. "Wonderful. Minerva will   
know my plans for tomorrow and where I will meet with you."  
  
She nodded and took a step to take her leave before turning back   
suddenly. "Will you be out again because of this flooding?" she   
asked spontaneously.  
  
He looked at her a bit taken aback, but answered, "Yes, there is   
still much that is needed to be taken care of." His voice carried   
with it a note of confusion as to her question.  
  
Serenity only paused thoughtfully a moment before looking into   
his eyes once more and uttering only a quite, "Be cautious," before   
turning to let her guardians lead the way around the dance floor   
and out of the hall.  
  
* Council Bob should truly be Council Phaedo, but during my   
proofing, it was the suggestion of my, slightly goofy, boyfriend to   
simply name him Bob and go on. …He also did not believe that I   
would leave it as such! ;-)  
  
@}---_____________  
"Oh, friends are just enemies who don't have enough guts to kill   
you." - Judy Tenuta  
  
"You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if   
you knew how seldom they do." - Olin Miller  
  



	4. Chapter 3

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: Pay special attention to the details in here. I mad up this   
castle on my own… and I think my imagination deserves an extra   
hot-fudge sundae for this one!! …BTW I live in Kansas so the   
descriptions of seasons are based on that reality. Dedicated to   
those on their way to new beginnings. Keep your faith and your   
heart… and know that you are never alone. "With hands folded,   
you always have a hand to hold." - Carolyn Weber  
  
  
Chapter 3  
@}---  
  
  
Serenity had woken the next morning, painfully aware that the trip   
to her home's guardian planet was indeed not a dream. Upon   
leaving the ballroom she had found the arms of her friends   
necessary to even mount the two sets of stairs to her chamber. She   
had managed to ungracefully trip up the marble steps twice in the   
same walk, nearly placing her face on the floor and bringing down   
both of her caretakers with her.  
  
Indeed, sleep had not even been a relief for her. She had tossed   
absently in the strange bed, weighted by that invisible cloak that   
not even frightful fatigue could drive off. The princess felt worse   
for wear by the time Minerva entered her chamber to rouse her to   
the morning's freshness.  
  
The maid stood shocked over the tousled bedding and the matched   
frame lying as dead weight upon it. She fussed over her   
continually through the morning preparations and fretted that the   
girl would wither away and finally comatose herself. But Serenity   
would not allow herself to be plucked back into bed and charged   
with attempting sleep again.  
  
She threw open the inner shutterings and called for a window that   
would actually open for her. Finding none, she had flaunted her   
maid and made off for the door in the corner of her sitting room   
away from her main chamber's entrance. Opening this, she rushed   
into the tiny hall of four doors. The one across from her entered   
into her mother's chamber, the double doors left of her opened into   
the main hallway that all of their rooms exited from, and the other   
set was solid glass opening out onto the floor's balcony.  
  
The new rays of the sun shown brightly and small colors still   
remained of sunrise in the Eastern sky. Clouds cascaded in swirls   
around but none threatened rain again. Serenity was stopped from   
rushing out onto the balcony proper by her, slightly winded, maid.   
"Heavens child!" she chided. "Do you naturally wish to run about   
half naked and barely woken?"  
  
She blushed pink a moment as she took time to consider that she   
was clad only in her night slip and her unplaced appearance had   
not yet been calmed by a bath. Had she lost all her sense, or   
merely the good of it? "Forgive me, I suppose I am only excited,"   
she excused herself.  
  
"I dare say so," Minerva smiled back at her. "But come, let us get   
you ready for a… more suitable public reception," she teased.  
  
For as downtrodden as she was, Serenity found her natural   
curiosity over-power her again as the day began. She playfully   
picked out a light dress for the day's events and began splashing at   
Minerva for trying to hurry her out of the bath. With the maid's   
help she dressed quickly and tied her hair into its usual design.   
The long blond waves were split down the center and combed to   
the sides. They were then gathered and wrapped so that two small   
balls of gold gracefully stood on top of her head. The rest of the   
tresses were left to hang and curled at the ends so that they would   
remain separated.  
  
Serenity stood before her dressing mirror as Minerva fussed about   
the bedroom in search of this or that, or tidying up, all the while   
complaining of being too old to be charged with such a mistress.   
The princess merely shrugged it off as a personal offence she could   
retaliate for later.  
  
She turned instead to hurrying the elder woman out and showing   
her down to the chapel for her morning prayers before her fast   
could be broken. As they exited her inner chamber they found her   
four guardians assembled with a couple of other servants who were   
busy rearranging the flowers on her mantle piece. Only then did   
she notice their pale pink blossoms. Pink roses; joy and happiness.   
She paused to smell them as the group turned to leave. Such   
lovely things… Serenity followed the others with her head held a   
slight touch higher.  
  
Her prayers were rushed but full, as she had managed already to   
miss the morning Mass, yet the princess found herself eager to start   
the day, and found it wearing quickly. Most of the castle was busy   
about their day by the time she and her company found their way   
to the earlier-risen royalty. Having eaten, the three senior rulers   
resigned themselves to wait on the youngsters. A full feast was   
placed out in front of Serenity's court and she found that her   
appetite was the only thing not affected, or perhaps exaggerated,   
by her situation.  
  
Conversation was light and the younger girls were soon given   
leave to what their day would hold. All of it passed inside a   
mingling blur as she never bothered to sort one memory from   
another.  
  
Minerva met the group again as they existed the small dinning hall   
they had taken breakfast in and guided them out onto the second   
floor landing. The group of girls looked out in admiration of the   
site before them. The huge courtyard that centered inside the   
castle walls was created in a labyrinth of green plants, ornate trees,   
and every color of blossom. The second floor brought them out to   
a huge balcony that surrounded seemingly the entire yard.   
Looking up, the princess noticed that the first five floors had the   
same design only on diminishing scales. Each balcony of the   
floors above them was shallower than the one below so that it gave   
it an inverted pyramid effect, and each floor was allowed access to   
the others by way of a few grand stairways of granite interspaced.  
  
Creeping vines and ivy grew along the balconies and around their   
pillars. Potted plants lay sheltered but revealed to those that would   
walk among them. A heavy sent of nature's perfume permeated   
the air, and the fog of happy bliss settled heavily.  
  
"Your escorts should be out here somewhere, Princess," Minerva   
interrupted her dreamings. "I am sure that I heard them return   
nearly an hour ago."  
  
Serenity nodded and let the maid-woman waltz them around the   
garden's edge. A bit farther and they came across the group of five   
Earth warriors, suited again in light armor, settled against the   
railing and watching the gardens as well. Being of a curious eye,   
she had always known that she could sense a great deal of another   
by the simple art of knowing what to look for.  
  
The high general Kunzite stood out as very well suited for his title.   
He stood straight and tall, watching their advance and missing   
nothing with those perfect crystal eyes of his. But Kunzite was   
again clothed by the blue and while cape and his temper seemed   
respondent of those muted colors as well.  
  
Nephrite also stood straight and watched with a more curious,   
warm eye as the group approached. He seemed the type to want to   
know a person rather than know of them. He had an emotional feel   
that made him appeal to others as a levelheaded confidant. Again,   
he matched his post perfectly.  
  
General Zoicite leaned lightly against the stone railing and   
continued in his conversation with Jadeite. Even with an added   
distraction he looked over the group seemingly unconcerned but   
with quick, sharp movements that hinted at a swift nature.   
Serenity saw him as the one no enemy would suspect of much,   
which would suit this soldier perfectly. He was more shadow than   
man.  
  
Jadeite was an even stranger character. He lounged calmly, and   
completely unconcerned against the railing, watching the gardens   
instead of the girls. He held a wistful smile on his lips without fail   
as he pretended uninterest in the group of young women nearing   
his countenance. His movements were slow and calculated as well   
as nonchalant, giving him the air of perfection un-worked for. A   
natural warrior or womanizer, she did not know.  
  
The whole group of them appeared to coincide well enough, and   
indeed, if they were to guard a planet of this size and importance   
they had best to love each other rather than simply work together.   
Of course, their figurehead was a man to be reckoned with should   
they overstep their stations.  
  
Her destined stood also, straight but with his arms crossed in front   
of him and his stance at ease. He too was somehow wrapped with   
his two guardians in their talk but had soon left the conversation   
upon seeing them. His eyes were warm and welcoming of the   
group as he quietly looked them over; possibly doing the same   
scrutiny of them as she was of his armament. Intelligence seeped   
from his mannerisms and there was a worldly air to the effortless   
way he held himself. His presence was simply commanding.  
  
And bent within those eyes of a commander, very few things   
escaped his scrutiny. The five young princesses intrigued him to   
no avail. He had wondered at such a young start to his near-bride,   
yet now realized more as to what her life held for her.  
  
Never alone, she seemed to worship the attention. The center was   
certainly her rightful place among her friends and colleges alike.   
An excellent ingredient for a future ruler. Yet, she was of constant   
cheer, fully trusting of others, and open beyond the realm it would   
be safe for a monarch. Yet… that was nearly her best defense.  
  
That and the other four women that strode step for step with her.   
The lead commander Lady Mina, of Venus was a beautiful blond   
whose hair fell past her waist. Blue eyes, open and inviting, held   
just enough sparkle that they were genuine in both flirtation and   
protection. She seemed one to welcome a challenge and scoffed at   
being anything but in first place.  
  
Serenity's other side was accompanied by the taller, more   
athletically able, Lady Lita. The Jupiterian held her mid-back   
length brown hair folded out of her way by simple way of a   
ponytail design. Practical but probably quick minded, she watched   
the group of men as they approached. She held a warm smile to   
her lips, yet a glare to her green eyes as though she were not as   
trusting of every appearance. She was a bit shifty, probably giving   
away an acute readiness for action.  
  
To the side of her, and a bit behind walked the other two young   
women, the first being the Lady Rei of Mars. Thigh length black   
hair shimmered straight and unrestrained. Her violate eyes were   
watchful and shaded, her face giving away nothing of her thoughts,   
yet the slightly stiff set of her jaw seemed to work as they treaded   
forward. She was regale and pristine, yet there was something to   
her movements that suggested a razor wit or fired temper, or   
both… as would be fitting of her Martian heritage.  
  
Finally, he cast a quiet gaze over the Mercurian, Lady Ami. Short   
cut blue hair represented the style of her home world, as did the   
deep blue eyes. She seemed very calm and certain of herself, yet   
polite and perhaps a bit shy. Yet the way in which she measured   
each person of his group in their own way implied a great attention   
to details. It was rumored that she was highly intellectual, and he   
wondered if that would account for the lamblike quality of this   
fighter.  
  
All in all, he decided looking back to see Serenity stop before   
them, they seemed very good in their guise of pretty faces,   
enveloping very powerful loyalty.  
  
Minerva, however, was the first to offer speech, and it was only in   
a way to excuse them for their tardiness. "I am sorry, Prince, I   
should have had them here earlier," she said without bow or curtsy.   
Yet, Serenity saw a slight smile on Endymion's lips when she   
referred to him as "prince" instead of his given name. Formalities   
were simply lost with this woman.  
  
"No need to worry over it, we had anticipated that we would be the   
ones tardy this morning." The five young men turned to regard her   
court openly now and she stood resigned to anything that her   
prince might have planned for the day. And indeed he formally   
bowed to her and asked her, and her court's, hand in leading them   
about the palace. She accepted greedily, wondering at the sights   
around her. Any physical handicaps were ignored for the time,   
though she fought to keep pace with the man who had taken her   
arm to guide them.  
  
The castle was as limitless as her own imagination would have   
been were she told to construct it by thought. When she asked how   
all of this was done, the simple reply was that it was never done.   
To that very day construction was still being brought upon the   
monstrous citadel.  
  
Their tour consisted mostly with the wing that housed their   
sleeping quarters since they were more familiar with those   
surroundings. The rest was laid out in much the same fashion.   
Four "grand hallways" stood around the square of the building's   
foundation. East hall, west sitting room, south east dinning hall,   
everything was directional due to the immense nature of the palace   
and the human nature to get lost within it.  
  
It was when the group had taken a near full circle of it that they   
found themselves in the North hall, decorated much like the first   
one that they had walked into the day before, except for the ceiling   
paintings. Serenity had noted all along that many of the murals   
were not of former rulers or noblemen, but of scenery and   
wilderness, landscapes of beauty… only not the same ones. "Can   
you tell me the difference for the ceiling paintings?" she asked   
curiously, gazing stilling at the plaster six floors above her   
insignificant frame.  
  
"I was wondering the same," Ami said simply from beside her.   
The intellectual of the group would of course be drawn to this sort   
of challenge as well.  
  
There was a quiet chuckle from her side as Endymion looked up as   
well. She realized, too late as usual, that she must look an idiot   
standing with her head thrown back in abandoned admiration for   
colored plaster. No wonder it was unadvised of her to wear any   
sort of crown, how would she keep it on her head!  
  
"Actually the whole of the murals are done much the same way.   
Lady Saraswati first thought of the directional idea long ago and it   
has been adopted by nearly everyone in the family line. You see,   
in this region on Earth we experience many and varied seasonal   
changes brought on by weather and wind patterns. So, each   
direction seems to resemble a different season. Four directions,   
four seasons and four different types of paintings. North is   
associated most closely with winter, that is why white is the   
prominent color and the landscapes are barren."  
  
Indeed the coloring was done mostly in whites and muted blues   
and purples. Hushed colors swirled over small hills and valleys   
leaving them empty but rich just the same.  
  
"East comes with the newness of day, so it is a symbol for spring.   
That is why greens and browns and other colors are added to the   
Grand Hall's design. South is for summer and golden harvests and   
ripened fruits. West is for fall, with all of its oranges and reds just   
as in the sun-set."  
  
In spite of herself, Serenity giggled at the description. She had   
never known a season change, or nearly any of the colors that he   
had babbled of so quickly. This truly was a wondrous land, one   
that she felt in her heart she would grow to love. "Might I ask a   
naive question?" she said quietly as the group continued on and   
she was once again on the arm of her betrothed.  
  
"Anything you would, dear princess," he smiled at her.  
  
She returned it whole-heartedly and motioned back to encompass   
the hall, "Which season are we in now?"  
  
He chuckled a bit at her and smiled again, "Which do you think?"  
  
She had been hoping for a simple answer but she felt up to this   
challenge. She pursed her lips out in thought and was rewarded   
with another laugh from her side. "I do believe that I shall have to   
think on that one a bit more."  
  
"Take your time then, they do not change that quickly."  
  
"Well," she cooed, "perhaps I need more time outside in order to   
recognize the color schemes that you have been talking about. I   
should be able to recognize it, correct?"  
  
"Only if you have been paying attention," he chided.  
  
It was true that she had been fighting yawns for a good part of the   
day, and even during lunch that afternoon she had been pressed not   
to call attention to herself. It was not only her weakened state but   
also the time change that she was simply not use to. Not only had   
she lost five hours somewhere, her body was also tended more to   
the varied twenty-two hour days of the Moon, rather than a   
constant twenty-four. Now she appeared to be the doting princess,   
unable to keep her head from a pillow, as well as an oaf. Oh   
people of Earth, what will you say?  
  
"Perhaps you would like to walk through the gardens tonight after   
dinner is served? I think you might find it much different from   
your own."  
  
She giggled at the thought and looked up at him happily. "I was   
wondering when you were going to finally arrive at that, dear   
prince."  
  
  
Evening came quickly and by the time the two courts were   
released from the dinning-hall and excused for the night, the sun   
was in its day's death throws near the horizon. There was promise   
of a colorful sunset and Endymion was anxious for the chance to   
speak with his betrothed. He escorted her from the hall and was   
surprised that she promptly dismissed her guardian court to their   
own free time as she was "in capable hands." A comment that he   
decided did not settle well with a few of the more over-protective,   
but he took no offence from their measured glances. As it were,   
they too found something to occupy their time as his guardians   
took the chance to make suggestions of their own to the girls. All   
in all, he believed this to be an excellent opportunity for all   
included.  
  
The gardens were cool and becoming ever deepening in the   
shadow of the disappearing sun. There were still several that   
ventured out on this evening to observe the plants and weather, but   
few came within much of speaking distance in the immense   
expanse of green.  
  
His young bride-to-be had seemed increasingly tired and frail as   
the day wore on, yet there was something inside of her that did not   
allow for her to humbly bow out of the festivities. Minerva had, of   
course, told him more than once that the girl must not have slept a   
bit the night before, and more over, blamed him for being so   
inconsiderate as to ask her out the morning after a most dreadful   
experience. How he became a scapegoat for every touch of ill that   
would chance upon this princess, he did not know, but it seemed   
his trusted maid had become more than fond of her.  
  
Again Serenity seemed weary but energized at the same time. Her   
walk was slow and meditative as they made their way around the   
gardens, but her eyes were feasting in the colors of the plants. She   
seemed so very tranquil here in nature, so relaxed in his presence,   
so unlike what he had expected.  
  
"I am not sure that I will ever get use to the differences between   
our worlds," she murmured quietly, talking more to the bushes she   
was brushing her hand against than to him. "Yet, I am so very   
happy that I have gotten that chance."  
  
He smiled down at her as she walked along, still lost in thought.   
She was truly a beautifully spirited girl. He had held his fears   
before of what might become of a soul forced into such an   
arrangement, yet as he carefully watched her he became aware that   
this was not an average soul, and indeed, could never be hardened   
or grudged towards anyone. Serenity… the name of her heart.  
  
She slightly tugged on his arm, which had hers wrapped through it,   
to pull him to a stop. She looked curiously at a flowering plant   
next to the cobblestone path. Looking back she glanced at him a   
moment as if to ask if he would stop her, but he simply watched   
her as she turned back to the flower and released his arm.   
Carefully she inspected it before she gathered her long gown   
around her and knelt down close to it.  
  
Endymion was a bit shocked to see a royal princess down on her   
knees in the middle of a garden, or at all for that mater, but she   
remained watchful of the flower a second longer before gently   
reaching out to touch it.  
  
Again she glanced back up to him for reassurance that she would   
not be cautioned away from her actions before sliding a delicate   
finger over the petals of the graceful flower. The plant's only   
response to her touch was to sway a bit on its tender stock.   
Serenity smiled brightly at the little pale blossom in front of her   
and continued to fondle it gently.  
  
Endymion watched her a moment before quietly interrupting her   
murmured giggles. "It is called a lily."  
  
She giggled more loudly this time and gave the bloom one more   
pat before rising herself to her feet again. "It is beautiful," she said   
quietly. Looking up at him again she noticed him smiling openly   
at her and mistook it as an awkwardness. She glanced down   
quickly, her face falling from its happy glow to one of a blushed   
mortification. "I am sorry…"  
  
"No reason to be," he interjected quickly. Instead he took her hand   
again and motioned her to follow. "In truth, I think there is   
something that you should like to see." With a secretive smile he   
led her ahead on the path farther to a branch that led off of the   
main way. Here he turned and let her go ahead of him into the   
grotto snuggled into a mass of bushes and trees so that it was   
separated from the outside gardens.  
  
He was rewarded by a slight gasp as she entered the sanctuary and   
he simply let her lead as she would around the portico. Its pillars   
supported a walkway that stretched across the expanse of the   
gardens, but it sheltered this grove of orchids perfectly. There was   
bragged to be a hundred different types of orchids in this veranda,   
and the landscapers would place this nook as highly on their lists   
as the enchanted rose gardens that were the pride of all the green-  
thumbed servants.  
  
A simple pond was constructed at the end of the stoned walkway   
that served to up-hold the more water dwelling plants. The trees   
and bushes were climbed over with the epiphyte types of the   
highly adaptable flora and the rest of the soil was also given over   
to the normal rooted ones.  
  
Serenity milled around the edges of this stretch and returned to him   
again, eyes shining. "Are these all of the same flower?"  
  
He nodded and sat down on a small bench placed next to the   
supporting pillars so that he could watch the princess wonder about   
in the deepening twilight. Beneath the sheltering walkway the   
light slipped out of focus much faster and the pair was forced to   
part earlier than Serenity would have liked, but they soon found   
themselves centered within the rose gardens and the rows upon   
rows of climbing, growing, and dwarfed bushes covered over with   
every color capable to plants.  
  
Again Serenity was a bit overwhelmed by the flowers' reception to   
her and she soon gave up her insistent wonderings to seat herself   
on a stone bench to watch the fleeting rays of purpled light. "I   
never thought of such things' existence," she muttered again. "On   
the Moon, the flowers grow and hold their blooms perfectly, but   
they do not match the color or splendor of these."  
  
She sat in near awe for a while as Endymion milled about in search   
of one perfect rose. Choosing one, he carefully severed it from its   
bush and hid it behind his back before bowing and presenting it to   
his destined with all flourish he could manage without removing   
his straight face. She accepted it gratefully and beamed a perfect   
smile back to him.  
  
He sat beside her and watched while the sun was finally sunk   
under the attack of night as the piercing stars made their way to the   
front lines once again. The deep purple-blue of the coming night   
sent them into shadows and yet the two sat, still waiting for the   
final end of this star's performance.  
  
It was then that Serenity sat up with an exclamation that nearly had   
Endymion's sword drawn in defense. "Is that…" He tilted his   
head up to face the same point in the sky that had taken the   
princess' surprise. And understood why she could not finish her   
sentence.  
  
"Yes," he said softly, wondering which types of emotions could be   
ranging through the woman beside him upon seeing her home for   
the first time, away from it.  
  
There was a slight sigh as she continued to gaze at the ever-  
brightening crescent set high in the darkening sky. He waited a   
moment as she stilly gazed lovingly at the small slip of sphere. He   
silently took guard of her as her reverie stole her heart with her   
attention attached.  
  
"Is it always so small?" she creaked out.  
  
"No," he reassured. "This is close to the smallest it seems. Its   
conversion from dark to full and back again takes it a month over."  
  
"As the phases of Earth do…" she added to herself. "I had never   
known what we must look like to those below. …It seems so small   
in comparison to the vision of this world from it. Is that not odd?"  
  
"Our worlds are not of comparable size, though I do remember   
what you mean."  
  
She bowed her head a bit to the rose that she still held clutched   
within her folded hands in an attitude of prayer. For what,   
Endymion could not know, but he wished nothing but the best for   
their outcome.  
  
When she turned her face heavenward again there was the slight   
glimmer of tears piled at the corners of her beautiful topaz-blue   
eyes.  
  
There was nothing that he could do but slip a hand behind her back   
and lend her the use of some of his own support. She gratefully   
smiled up at him once more and pushed the tears away with the   
back of her hand. "I am sorry, I should not be so emotional over   
such silly things."  
  
"There is nothing silly about your home, Princess."  
  
She nodded again, "You have always seemed so understanding of   
me through all of this. I truly thank you, Prince Endymion."  
  
"No need to thank me in the least, Princess." He tipped her chin   
up a bit to look at him. "I have not been able to imagine what all   
of this is like to you."  
  
She smiled a bit at the reference and seemed to shrug off the   
overwhelming emotions from only seconds before. Her eyes   
brightened a bit in the last traces of post-sunset light, showing an   
inner light more potent than any sun. "Minerva has told me that   
you blame much of this on yourself."  
  
"Does she?" he questioned suspiciously. "You should never   
believe all that that old woman tells you," he mumbled propping   
his arm on the back of the bench they sat upon and leaned his chin   
on the back of his hand.  
  
He was rewarded with a small giggle from her as she continued.   
"She has appeared honest thus far." They both snickered a bit at   
the comment before she released her eyes from him and turned   
back to the rose in her hand. "I do not hold you accountable for   
any of these circumstances. If destiny has chosen us for each other   
then we remain at its mercy. How could you think of it   
differently?"  
  
He paused a minute to take in the deep blue of the night gardens.   
"I was expecting this, Princess." She looked at him curiously but   
he did not return her gaze yet. "Not this match at all, but a match   
nonetheless. In truth, I have been expecting it since a time before I   
reached manhood. I have always known this to be my fate and I   
have been faithful to that future foresaw." He turned to look at her   
fully now, "But you had no reason to expect this. As yet you are   
too young to have worried over a marriage."  
  
"Yes… I do suppose that you are right. Worry was centered on   
my marriage very rarely before the announcement." There was a   
small pause before she continued. "Yet, that still does not give you   
leave to think of yourself as wronging me in some way by being   
part of this arrangement."  
  
He sighed slightly, "Indeed, it was not able to accomplish   
anything. I had been holding out hope that this could be postponed   
for some time. Even that is too much to ask of the Fates."  
  
A pause stretched on between them for length enough that he was   
about to suggest that they reenter the palace when the quite was   
broken for him. "Endymion?"  
  
"Yes." In the darkness he could see her seated beside him mostly   
from memory, yet he could see that she was not looking at him.  
  
"When you said that you were faithful to your fate…"  
  
Endymion found it an odd subject but he waited for her to finish   
her question.  
  
"…does that mean that you have looked for no one that you would   
rather to be wedded with?"  
  
Every subtle suggestion inside of that question floated through his   
mind as he started to plot through which she was really hinting at   
and which she was not. In the end he had no more of an answer   
than he had during the first second he heard it. "I am not sure that   
I understand you, Princess."  
  
She turned more fully to watch him, and the only thing he could   
see of her was her eyes, lit in a dimmer outline. "I am sorry, it is   
not a question for this time. Forgive me," she mumbled, again   
playing with her rose.  
  
"No, please, tell me what you mean." He placed a hand over hers   
to stop her from her distraction.  
  
"I only wonder that in your years you had not found one that you   
would wish to take to the alter, rather than being resigned to   
having your match chosen for you."  
  
Apparently he had not misheard her after all. Thinking a moment   
he responded the only way he could, "I… I have not searched for   
one."  
  
It seemed too much of a simple answer to Serenity, for she only   
watched him and waited for a continuation.  
  
Being taken off guard was not the prince's strong suit, and indeed   
he was at a loss for words once in his life. "…" He could simply   
find no way to explain to her his life's station. Taking a deep   
breath he tried again, "Princess—"  
  
"Serenity, please."  
  
"—Serenity… What was I about to say?" he wondered out loud.  
  
There was a slight chuckle from beside him as he searched for his   
train of thought again before realizing that he had none to begin   
with, and she knew it.  
  
"I am sorry. I did not mean to fluster you," she muttered humbly.  
  
He only sighed and rose to his feet. "I never thought I was   
flusterable."  
  
"Endymion?"  
  
He chuckled at himself hopelessly and paced a bit before standing   
before her. "I suppose it does seem odd to you, but I simply did   
not seek out a woman for my bride, Serenity. And none happened   
to find me along the way. That was never a care for me."  
  
"I suppose, that could be natural for you. I am sorry, it does seem   
odd to me."  
  
Sitting back down again he looked at her, "And am I interrupting   
any your own dreams?"  
  
"Oh no," she interjected, "Nothing of the sort." She swatted at a   
lock of her hair and fiddled with her rose yet again. "Indeed, I find   
myself flattered at this matching."  
  
There was such a soft note to her voice that Endymion wondered   
again at the humility of this child. The heir to the Solar System,   
and she was flattered to be rushed into a loveless marriage to a   
man she knew nothing of aside from whatever kinds of "barbarian"   
stories that her councils would have told. She truly was an   
uncharacteristic soul.  
  
"You were wanton of love, were you not?"  
  
She did not seem prepared for the jump in conversation as she   
started. "What do you mean?"  
  
He smiled quietly. "You grew up with your mother's exploits   
foremost in your heart. You knew the ideal of marriage for love."  
  
She sighed warmly, "Yes, I grew to believe the story, and the   
philosophy," she added. "I suppose there was always part of me   
that thought I too would be one to fall in love with one alone and   
be of strength enough to refuse any other suitors. Hum…" she   
breathed, "Actually, I know myself to be not nearly that strong, but   
no matter the short-lived-ness of their union, it still seems right to   
me."  
  
"Indeed, it is the galaxy's love story."  
  
"Yes," she mumbled looking again to the crescent above them. "I   
wonder what Father would have said to all of this."  
  
"Forgive me, Serenity, I never meant to cause you this."  
  
"No, it is all right. I could not mind in the least. My father is   
seemingly never mentioned anymore, and I was still too small,   
when Death took him, to remember. I have only Mother's   
memories that I can steal from her. That, and the paragraph worth   
of history written of the 'shortest-lived king'."  
  
"How easily we forget those not with us long."  
  
"Hum," she sighed again, "I do not know, I think he is still with   
me." There was a slight giggle from her once more. "Actually, I   
do think he would approve of a man willing to care for me though   
he does not know me fully yet."  
  
"Always, Princess," he turned somber as he peered into the   
darkness, looking for the outline of his future. "I may not offer   
you a great love story, but I will promise you my faithfulness…   
and my care."  
  
@}---_____________  
"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting   
and autumn a mosaic of them all." - Stanley Horowitz  
  
"Love is the flower of life, and blossoms unexpectedly and without   
law, and must be plucked where it is found, and enjoyed for the   
brief hour of its duration." - D. H. Lawrence  
  
  



	5. Chapter 4

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: A marriage decided upon by everyone else and two people   
that must endure it. And, of course, my own philosophy on   
marriage! Dedicated to the pure and innocent, in a world that   
almost seems bent on destroying them…  
  
  
Chapter 4  
@}---  
  
  
The day of joining was happy, and sad, mournful, yet exhilarating,   
somber, but emotional. It depended on whom you asked.  
  
If you spoke with the people assembled inside of the Moon   
Kingdom's Lunar Chapel it was a dream, and prayers were offered   
for happiness, health, peace, and even an annulment. Many looked   
on with eyes of wonder, hearts of love, and minds of possibilities.   
Others looked with scorn, heard with contempt, and held hearts of   
non-existence. Still more were deaf, blind and shallow.  
  
If you approached the people assembled around oracles and seers   
on Earth to witness the events of the Chapel, it was said to be a   
revelation of goodness, of grace, of new beginnings, and of more   
gossip. Many hoped for the end of an age, others wished for a   
different age, and the rest were simply aged.  
  
If you were to stand amid the companies around the oracles of all   
of the other System's planets you would see the same emotions   
tossed about clumsily and trampled underfoot as the people   
struggled for room enough to see and voices enough to ask why   
everyone else was standing there.  
  
Yet if you asked the three standing at the alter then and there you   
would find quite a difference. For example, the priest's only   
thoughts were of prayers to join these two in the sight of God now   
and forever. And he prayed fervently as to appose the cries for an   
annulment already being lifted. He spoke with a gentle voice and   
patient heart as he interceded for these two youths as they came to   
their vows, which he knew, would be without love. For without   
love, two would become one and crumble again to two, usually   
with the addition of two or three more by that time.  
  
Yet, looking at the small princess of the Moon, the heir to the   
System's thrown, she could not have known the prayers of those   
around her. Her own were posed for the strength to endure any   
trial and face this with the sense of chivalry to which her betrothed   
was receiving it.  
  
And indeed her destined knelt but a foot from her and he as well   
prayed for the courage and the strength for the marriage to work.   
To be faithful to his vows and to uphold his match with limitless   
care. Though, it seemed, he knew all too well the prayers of the   
others assembled. Praying against the thoughts of those apposed to   
this and hoping with all might that the well-wishers would be right   
about them.  
  
The full, emotional heart of the young princess was borne of   
conflicting sentiments. Pure innocence having a troubling time of   
forging herself a vision of the future she was so rudely pressed   
into. She accepted her station, though she knew not how, and she,   
as she rose to face her prince, felt a peace inside of all of the   
turmoil…  
  
The compassioned, intellectual heart of the Earth's prince was   
deep in thought. His conflicting thinking gave him no rest as he   
searched for a way in which to understand his bride and fulfill the   
vows he was to make. The heart of a mastermind was not called   
upon as often as the natural leader inside of his chosen-for bride,   
yet it beat softly to remind him, and itself, that it served a purpose   
and would not fail to be allowed to direct in these maters. And as   
he rose to his feet and faced the youth before him, it beat more   
harshly, eager to be listened to…  
  
The two of them joined hands and the priest quietly whispered the   
vows that they were to repeat. First to Endymion the words that   
should have belonged to a lover, committing his life to the one he   
would forever hold, were given for his pronunciation. He looked   
solemnly at the golden balls of hair that was all he could see of the   
woman he was professing undying… concern for. He repeated the   
words diligently, dutifully, worriedly, and even a bit longingly. To   
protect, to cherish, to honor, to care for, to be supportive of…   
everything but to love.  
  
Serenity remained with her eyes closed and lowered as she began   
her own words. Words that could empower heaven itself to join   
two souls together in a union to which her impassioned heart cried   
out for happiness. She felt the tears threaten to seep from her   
closed lashes, but not for fear or love, but for the tremendous hope   
that had lit within her. She repeated the words without hesitation,   
and with each word her chin lifted to finally look into the eyes of   
the man she would belong to, and with, for as long as time would   
allow. To be faithful, to cherish, to honor, to care for, to be   
supportive of… everything but to love.  
  
The fingers of their hands were united and a small ribbon of the   
purest of white was placed around their hands to signify the   
inseparable nature of their commitment. The knot was sealed   
inside a bow and the two began what would be the greatest of all   
challenges of life… to live with each other.  
  
In the fog of un-thought-of memories they had became two against   
the rest of the Universe. And there was one lost entity there during   
those moments that was not given the amount of thought that it   
deserved. I was the one looking over the two of them.  
  
I am fate, I am destiny, I am luck, I am chance, I am the one you   
blame for all failings and never thank for any good. And I have a   
sense of humor.  
  
  
The Moon always seemed to hold an unquestionable amount of   
warmth and power to it, yet as Serenity gazed at the their guardian   
planet folded out in all of its glory this night she felt at peace now   
that she had seen even such a small part of its surface. The   
wedding festivities would continued through the coming month's   
worth of nights, yet it seemed this night would not close.  
  
The princess stood absently at the railing of the ballroom's balcony   
overlooking the gardens. The huge balcony allowed her to choose   
a shadowed position where the other participants would not seek   
her. They waltzed past in an ever-changing pattern within the   
buttered light that was seeping from the inner chamber. A warm   
breeze ruffled at her dress and twirled her hair playfully, yet she   
did not notice it. She felt calm, although she had more than feared   
what the outcome of this night would bring. Her wedding… was   
behind her now.  
  
She knew that she should be in fear of nothing at this point, but   
still there were cowardly thoughts that would not speak their mind   
and preferred to stay buried. These were the ones that would not   
allow her rest.  
  
"It is a beautiful night." She turned to watch her newly joined   
husband walk out onto the balcony to meet her. "You know," he   
mumbled, "you would make an excellent scout. I doubt over three   
people saw you leave the room." He carefully took her hand and   
bowed a bit before her, bring her hand to his lips in a light kiss.   
"Of course, with your luck, one of them had to be me."  
  
"I am sorry, I needed some air," she said quietly, the wind almost   
taking her words.  
  
"It is all right… but my question is, are you as well?"  
  
He had not released her hand, but held it loosely should she wish to   
remove it. His stance was of a distance enough that it would not   
be considered intrusive and indeed she realized that he must have   
waited until now to venture our after her since she knew not how   
long she had been there. She took all of it as a sign that this was a   
true peace offering, and one of the only moments that they had   
been able to spend alone since they had meet again the day before   
in order to prepare for their sacrament.  
  
She quietly smiled at the thoughtfulness that he was showing her   
and reminded herself once more that she was fond of the man   
already; could her life ever be happy, it would be with him.  
  
"I was only thinking, I will be fine."  
  
He nodded and shifted his gaze up to meet the vision of his home   
world. Serenity watched him a moment through corner lashes,   
wondering what would pass through his mind on seeing it, yet she   
was disappointed when he showed nothing but the proud profile of   
a man in possession of his own life.  
  
She was going to find that annoying. Yet she was envious of his   
strength and his ability to hold himself unmoved through anything.   
Though, he was not emotionless, as she had once feared. There   
seemed only a time and place for his heart, as through his mind led   
it, instead of the other way around. Perhaps… that was simply   
how he operated.  
  
"It is amazing, is it not?" he questioned. She turned her attention   
more to the creation she was suppose to be looking at. "So close,   
yet our worlds are so different."  
  
"Yes," she murmured. Gazing up, the Earth filled over seven   
times the amount of room that the Moon did upon it. Never had   
she realized the vast difference in size that their neighbor had over   
them. But then, she lived on a moon, the smallest of all of the   
habitable worlds in the System. Somehow, she felt a bit   
insignificant.  
  
His gaze shifted from above to below as he took in the view of the   
midnight gardens, lit well under the nearly full planet. A few of   
the dance's patrons traveled around it, in groups of threes, fours,   
and even in pairs as young lovers snuck away from the inner lights   
into the more romanced twilight of the ever-faithful guardian in the   
sky. "Everything is so beautiful here, so touched by magic."  
  
It was true, the seat of the System's power was properly named. It   
held the greatest of all planetary forces and it was the home of the   
Mystical Silver Crystal. The power of love and peace that it   
provided could not be equaled in all the galaxy. It was the light   
that upheld the homes and worlds of all people… It was her   
destiny.  
  
She looked up at Endymion once more and focused on his dim, but   
steady, silhouette. He was also her destiny, her destined. And this   
day she had been bound to him forever more…  
  
"Serenity?"  
  
"Hum?" she mumbled, still lost in her thoughts.  
  
"I am happy that you find me mesmerizing, but a woman of your   
stature should be reminded not to stare."  
  
"What?" she muttered, fully finding herself staring up at him   
unconscious of her surroundings. A bright blush spread across her   
cheeks and she began to find the hem of her gown of the utmost   
interest. "Forgive me, I was…" He paused waiting for her to   
explain herself, which of course she knew not how to do. "I was   
deep in thought, and…"  
  
"Staring?" he finished for her.  
  
Serenity was mortified and the light humorous tone in the other's   
voice made her no more comfortable. "I am happy to see that we   
can finish each other's sentences. I have known that to be a very   
important part of a marriage."  
  
He chuckled at her and once more took her hand. "Forgive me,   
Princess, but if I can not pick on you, who am I too?"  
  
"Anyone," she mumbled.  
  
He chuckled again and gently raised her chin to look at him. "I do   
suppose you will have to get use to my sense of humor."  
  
"I am," she teased, "I already find myself annoyed."  
  
He simply shrugged in resignation and bowing before her. "May I   
then escort my newly found, and might I say most beautiful, wife   
back into the ball held our honor?"  
  
"Of course, my Prince, please lead the way."  
  
And for a time, all fears were left to fend for themselves.  
  
  
"Fear can be a wonderful ally, a powerful force, and a demanding   
master. The one who governs it, governs everyone under it. There   
is a power inside of fear, the power of a leash closed tightly around   
the hearts of those within its grasp. No courage will escape it   
completely, no will can break through without being tainted, no   
emotion is complete without it. Fear, it is in every move one could   
make, it upholds the strong and bows down the week. Fear is an   
ultimate power."  
  
The small globe of light that had been broadcasting the Lunar   
Chapel's wedding and the subsequent festivities compressed itself   
to a point and then exploded outwards in a ring of light. "Anger,   
resentment, pride, lust, vanity, selfishness, all have root in fear.   
The self is borne in the fear of failure, of twisted remorse for things   
unable to be done again, and of the un-vision to not forget.   
Humans are silly that way."  
  
There was the slightest sound of a laugh that escaped darkly   
polished lips. "They say love is the strongest of emotions, yet   
misguided love is the purest of all evils. It gives us 'compassion'   
to forestall our own consciences in order not to hurt the feelings of   
others. We compromise our own spiritual selves so that we do not   
step upon anyone else, all for the sake of misguided 'love for   
neighbor.' We allow others to change our hearts and prevent us   
from finding the truth and they call it 'love for oneself.' We fail to   
see the need to correct, and forget charity in the sake of 'love and   
never judgment.' Do we understand what we do?"  
  
The ball of light reappeared in a bust of fire and took on the image   
of a woman dressed in pure white joining hands with a man in   
gleaming armor and blue accents. "What did love have to do with   
this arrangement? They did not choose each other, nor did they   
wish to be forced to this. Queen Selenity, I had hoped for more   
from you. You, who had shown a pure heart and a true love for   
one man. You who had the strength to stand up for yourself and   
for true love. I am surprised that you would show no better   
judgment for that of your daughter."  
  
The light wavered slightly and was replaced with a moving image   
of the former couple dancing now around a ballroom floor. "Yet   
they seem resigned to this. How misguided of them. They have   
given up hope for true love and have taken on the veils of duty and   
hollow, worthless, emotions."  
  
A sigh was heard to echo in the seemingly empty, never ending,   
chamber. "Fear will enter quickly…"  
  
  
The chapel bells finally rang midnight and the first night of their   
wedding feast drew slowly closed. As quiet and reserved as   
Serenity had been through the preceding weeks since he had   
known her, she had now begun to truly come to life in Endymion's   
company. Since she had been allowed to adjust and come to   
understand him more, he felt that she had re-opened herself. That,   
and possibly she recognized that with their vows behind them, he   
was trapped.  
  
The prince chuckled to himself at the thought as he dotingly bid   
their well-wishing guests a good night. It was not the people   
themselves, as they were wonderfully caring and supportive, but he   
instead found the atmosphere not to his liking. It seemed that the   
Moon's lightened touch was giving him a headache.  
  
Slowly the couple made their way from the ballroom's lighting,   
leaving few aside from their guardians and parents behind.   
Serenity once again seemed much too quite and he wondered at her   
apparent mood swings. Of course, truth be told, this day may well   
have worn heavily upon her as well. He had not decided yet   
weather the marriage or the wedding was a harder burden.  
  
He allowed her to lead them through the hallways, still sprinkled   
with guests, and up a flight of stairs to, what he assumed would be,   
her bridal chamber…  
  
Perhaps he knew after all what troubled the child ahead of him.  
  
Were he to be asked to personify innocence and purity into a living   
soul, his efforts would come no closer then Serenity herself. Yet   
this night would mark the end of such thinking by most of the   
System… perhaps by everyone but two.  
  
A true marriage was love solidified in a sacramental bond made in   
the presence of friends and family, and created between man,   
woman, and God. Yet it was the wedding chamber's place to   
solidify the longing and passion built upon pure love. What begins   
in mental terms, and indeed had its place inside the will, moves   
steadily into the heart and emotions. With such a pure   
combination of hearts, only can real love be borne.  
  
Yet the last aspect comes and places a point to this squatted   
pyramid. Only after a sufficient base can the mental and emotional   
levels be capped by the physical realm of marital, ever lasting,   
love.  
  
Somehow, two weeks did not seem sufficient enough time to even   
level the path they were to build upon.  
  
Endymion studied his young bride carefully as she mounted the   
stairs. She was an enchanting figure. Her, more natural, grace was   
brought out here in her home, unburdened by the strange planet he   
had met her on. It was the quiet, seriousness, which was displaced   
against her brow. It was this burden that weighed her more heavily   
now, he knew.  
  
She led the way down a marble-clad corridor's length ending in   
two wooden doors. Serenity carefully pushed open one, as custom   
would have, and led in. The room was done in soft tones. Light   
wood was used on the furniture and white covered them in   
cushions and was plastered over the walls. Flower paintings hung   
about and the mantle piece to the great fireplace, seemingly never   
used, was sprinkled over with arrangements.  
  
The center of these was a bouquet that appeared a bit familiar.  
  
Carefully Serenity made her way to this vase and delicately began   
to tie a ribbon around its crystal top. The same ribbon that had   
united their hands together only that afternoon.  
  
He slipped up behind her and watched her perfect the little bow.   
"It is suppose to be symbolic of us," she said softly looking over   
the arrangement. "I asked your mother for a favor."  
  
Endymion nodded, gazing at the flowers captured in the crystal.   
Pink roses stood out prominent, stemmed with the deep green of   
Earth. Aside them a few delicate orchids unfolded their white   
blooms to full view. Yet the bundle was finished only with   
luminous silver petals of lunar roses and a few sprigs of golden   
filigree, which also rose from Moon's soil, accenting the edges.  
  
"It is amazing," he breathed, taking in the perfection of that in   
front of him.  
  
"I wanted something that would represent both of our homes." She   
turned to face him and looked up to see his eyes. "Do you like it?"  
  
"It is beautiful," he commented, touching her chin. "Just as its   
envisioner is."  
  
Serenity blushed slightly and dropped her face, a smile tugging at   
her lips. He chuckled a bit and scanned around the room to the far   
wall. Three double doorways opened off of this sitting room, one   
to the left, one right and a short hallway between them led to a   
third set. On his left the portals displayed what was probably a   
den, and to the right the pair parted to show a pillared bed, curtains   
open in waiting.  
  
Endymion quickly dismissed that direction as a possibility and   
wondered, as though aimlessly, toward the glass of the remaining   
middle access way. These did not lead to a room as the others did   
but allowed exit onto the balcony beyond.  
  
The princess silently followed, watchful of him as he curiously   
stepped closer to the doors' pane, and looked back to see his young   
bride smile and slip ahead to open them and usher him out. "The   
gardens at night are truly beautiful," she said quietly. They found   
themselves on a wide, half moon balcony over-looking the leading   
edge of the royal flower gardens. The sliver roses, central to the   
design, sparkled in the dim lighting giving off by the guardian   
planet, set low and heavy now, in the sky. Indeed it was   
breathtaking.  
  
"The whole of the Moon is so enchanting," he mumbled, inspired   
by the sights around him.  
  
"Many say that, yet I found Earth just to be as wondrous." There   
was a question in her statement and she looked up at him as she   
leaned against the stone railing, propping her elbows against it and   
her chin atop her hands.  
  
"It is the magic of the Moon that they feel," he answered.  
  
"Yet all planets possess their own power."  
  
He nodded, "Each do, but each planet's power is given off for   
certain reasons. It is dependant upon the circumstances and people   
living there."  
  
"Yes, such as Mercury. The planet is small yet a great quantity of   
power is needed to shelter its people from the nearness of the Sun."  
  
Nodding again he finally tore his gaze from the gardens. "Correct.   
With such a great quantity serving that purpose, much else is not   
available, or needed, with its small size."  
  
"So each planet uses what it needs."  
  
"That is true," he regarded her more closely. "Except for the   
Moon."  
  
She nodded, still gazing blindly at the darkening sights. "Because   
of the Silver Crystal."  
  
"It is its power that adds so much essence to the Moon. It is that   
added power that the people can feel," he concluded.  
  
"It serves to uphold the atmosphere, increases the gravity and   
places an added spin to our home's rotation. It cultivates the soil,   
controls weather… yet it holds its burdens as nothing at all."  
  
There was a slight amazement in her tone as though she had not   
been in its presence through her life.  
  
"Of course it is always helped by the power of the people charged   
with holding it."  
  
The comment did not appear to settle well as Serenity straitened   
her posture and rested only her hands on the rail, watching them   
blankly. Absently he remembered that this was the second time   
that she had shied away from the topic of her own powers.  
  
"Forgive me again, Princess, I seem to do well at touching   
uncomfortable spots."  
  
"No, not at all," she shook her head. "It is something that you are   
well to know now." He gazed at her curiously as she continued   
with a weak monolog. "The biased rumors spread that I am to be   
the very image of my mother as carrier of the Silver Crystal are   
truly unfounded."  
  
There was a small pause as she let the slight breeze tickle her with   
her hair and she breathed deeply. "It is a misunderstanding in the   
least. The queen has the gentlest of touches with the stone, yet her   
control over it is unmatched in all of history. Yet, I was to be the   
same… and I have failed in that."  
  
Endymion was about to interrupt her but she continued before he   
could begin. "It is not that I am unable to use its power, it is that I   
can control it well only in the most spontaneous of ways. My   
powers have been hailed as a match to Mother's yet I can control   
that much of the true potential of the Crystal only in times of great   
emotion it seems." She glanced back up to the prince and her   
voice turned hollow, "I do not know what would happen should the   
Council be confronted by this fact in a crisis"  
  
"Yet you have been trained extensively in its use as any heir would   
be, correct?" he asked a bit concerned.  
  
"Of course, in truth, more so than most would be. We always   
assumed that I would grow into my position more with years… but   
it has not appeared so."  
  
"Each is different, Serenity. You may still," he encouraged.  
  
"There is always hope." She once more leaned fully against the   
railing and watched the gardens. "I suppose we both know a secret   
of each other now," she teased, sounding more like the young   
woman he was beginning to know.  
  
"Yes well, I do not suppose that black-mail material is all that   
necessary in a functional marriage anyhow." He leaned over to   
match her posture and likewise took in the night. She giggled   
lightly and leaned absently into his shoulder, shivering slightly in   
the midnight breeze.  
  
He gazed silently down at the two balls of gold that where   
lounging against him for a moment, simply without thought. She   
was so trusting, so innocent… It made sense to him that her   
powers came from her emotions; after all they were her guiding   
force in life. Her heart was the one thing more powerful than any   
rock or crystal could be. Had no one thought of this?  
  
Again there was a slight shiver and she wrapped her arms around   
herself yet did not move from her position. He smiled at the tip of   
her head and carefully removed his cape from his shoulder   
supports. She looked up at him curiously when he moved but   
laughed when he sweepingly wrapped it around her slight frame.  
  
"I can not allow my new bride catching an illness on our wedding   
night," he mumbled to her as he began to clasp it for her.  
  
"I suppose that would make for more interesting gossip," she   
murmured.  
  
He looked back at her, fumbling with a clasp that he should have   
been able to fasten without use of his eyes. There was the same   
resigned tone to her voice that he had been able to pick up on a few   
times during the night. "What worries you, Princess?" he asked,   
sure that he would know the answer.  
  
She peered up at him, finding his eyes on hers, yet only stood   
before him. Slowly she found her voice and her eyes returned to   
the ground below them. "I am sorry for being such a mess through   
this… I am simply frightened, Endymion."  
  
Frightened. Yes, she would have every right and reason to fear   
this night for any other man that she could have met at the alter.   
Yet, could any act differently studying this woman before him?   
"Serenity…" he carefully took her chin and lifted it toward him.   
"Please do not be frightened of me."  
  
"It is not you that I fear, Endymion," she interjected before he   
could continue. "I fear my position only. I fear that I simply do   
not know how to be a wife to you."  
  
So then, her fears, numbered and mounted as they were, reflected   
themselves for one reason. She was left unprepared for such an   
extravagant change, and indeed was less prepared than possibly   
any innocent bride of history.  
  
He looked gently into her eyes and could think of nothing but one   
thing to say, "I have no need of a wife, Serenity, no more than you   
have need of a husband." Confusion took her quickly yet he found   
his thoughts again before she managed hers. "I have need of a   
friend; a confidant… not a lover."  
  
A small light filtered through her angelic face and a grateful smile   
lifted her lips a bit as tears possessed her eyes. "I would be   
honored of that position, dear Prince," she whispered.  
  
Endymion smiled down at her once again, feeling that the right   
choice had been decided on for this child. He found one of her   
hands and brought it to his lips in a fluttering kiss. "I would be   
honored to be the same for you, Princess."  
  
"Always," she sighed as she swiftly wrapped her arms about his   
waist and hugged him fiercely.  
  
The cape that he had still not managed to fasten about her slipped   
from her shoulders and would have collapsed to the ground had he   
not brought his own arms around her at the same time. There was   
a delicate nature to this girl, a gentle spirit that was lit from within   
by a fire of emotions and the power of a crystal heart.  
  
But it was the fragile character that needed guidance and   
protection. Endymion found himself holding her closely for the   
first time and for the first time realizing just how young and   
impressionable she was. Even for her age and for her up bringing   
she had been locked within a glass case that must be removed   
through time and with great care for this blossom to grow free of it.  
  
He made himself a vow that he would defend her spirit from any   
reality that would shatter her heart of hearts, and at the same time   
he slowly realized that his words could not have been more   
truthful: he would grow, as a friend, just as she would. Growing   
around and through her to protect and support, just as the trees of   
Earth had given support and nurturance to the orchids that were   
taken for their flower arrangement did.  
  
Somehow he found that thought odd, but comforting.  
  
Slightly, she stirred in his arms. "Endymion, I am sorry that we   
had to begin like this."  
  
He chuckled lightly and brushed his chin over her hair, bumping   
one of the small balls of hair, "I would say the same…" gently he   
picked her chin up so he could look at her more closely, "yet it   
does not seem to mater much any longer."  
  
Serenity nodded happily, still drying her eyes a bit. Slowly she   
backed away and wrapped the cape back around her. "A rough   
beginning only creates a greater appreciation through the   
duration."  
  
"Well then, might I say that I appreciate you in the utmost of ways,   
Princess," he said, bowing elaborately before her. Chuckling he   
leaned back against the railing and raising his eyes to the stars   
appearing so low in the shallow sky.  
  
She again leaned her head against his arm, giggling softly. He   
simply listened to her laughter and somehow he found the sound   
align itself with the fountain's musical splashing. …Fountain?  
  
He peered sideways around Serenity's shoulder to the side where   
the near silent gurgle of water came from a three tiered stone   
fountain standing before the entrance to the gardens. There was   
something that clicked into his mind at the thought of this water   
cascade, something that was perhaps engrained with him upon his   
first visit here so many years before… And for some reason he   
looked back up at the towers of the castle above them, searching   
for a light.  
  
@}---_____________  
"I love being married... I was single for a long time and I just got   
so sick of finishing my own sentences." - Brian Kiley  
  
"The discipline of desire is the background of character." - John   
Locke (1632-1704)  
  



	6. Chapter 5

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: The emergence of a problem? That's the thing with these   
love stories; something always has to go wrong first. Dedicated to   
any philosophy lovers. (Including Dr. Schimoler, he would be so   
proud of me!! ;)  
  
  
Chapter 5  
@}---  
  
  
Honeymoon. The word was created from the tradition of   
celebrating a family marriage for the whole of the Moon's   
spherical rotation. A month of formality was enough to deteriorate   
even the most well ironed of nerves, and considering that Serenity   
was not even that well-suited to the pressures of a constant   
spotlight, she more than welcomed the Moon's release and   
embraced Earth even more tightly than it did her.  
  
Endymion was again over thankful for the reprieve. The   
beginnings of the army's training season was close at hand and the   
prince had been spirited back to Earth several days, in order to   
fulfill the duties assigned to him by his position, before returning   
to her side for each step in their schedule.  
  
He amazed her on all accounts and she had become fascinated,   
nearly mesmerized, by his nature. The powerful figure   
commanded attention, demanded the confidence and support of   
those around him, yet there was never a threat to his presence.   
Contrary to the image displayed, he was a pure intellectual,   
devoted to problem solving and inflamed with debate. There was   
elegance to his manner and tender gentleness in his touch.  
  
Yet with every amazing quality in him, the wonder that controlled   
her most was over the honest commitment with which he   
approached every situation that faced his mind's eye. He was   
desperately in love with solutions, and problems became simply   
another path to reach them. He was a natural leader and Serenity   
was beginning to see why she was married off to him so early in   
life. Yet… she wanted deeply to emulate, more than rely, upon   
him.  
  
And in order to do that, she had eagerly accepted the chance to   
accompany him to Earth again.  
  
Though the planet had not accepted her as a child of her making,   
Serenity found a beauty and excitement like nothing she had   
known before. Earth, one of the very few planets in the System   
that could survive on its own without help from the ancient crystals   
that powered human existence. Though no one knew of the origins   
of these powers or of the history of life, beliefs were high that   
Earth had been the birthplace of creation.  
  
To some this became a romantic vision to dream of, or the legends   
that created poetry. Still others saw a chance to reclaim the roots   
of civilization. Yet it was the opinion of some, too shallow and   
self-serving to admit their own insecurities, who believed this only   
to show the utmost contempt for something outdated and   
barbarous. The remainder simply gave up the conversation once   
they received headaches.  
  
It still greatly confused her that the rivalry and standoffishness   
should be manifest, and nearly confined to, neighbors. How could   
two so close have so little to do with each other?  
  
The princess had found no reason to base such opinions on and she   
was truly enthralled by the excitement that claimed her on entering   
onto the soil of Endymion's home. The beauty and natural   
splendor of the lush planet played out perfectly from the castle's   
sidewall. The huge original square of the Earth's Imperial Palace   
had long since been added onto as time wore away the need for a   
lone, solitary structure. Positioned high, the castle perched itself   
tall amid humbly rolling hills. The fortress that it had once been   
now became the central point to a metropolis capital city.  
  
Standing along the Northern wall of the palace proper Serenity   
could see the expanse of fields and grazing lands surrounding   
them. The hills were smooth and supple, making travel easy but   
well observed. Trees lined heavily along small streams that wound   
through the flatter expanses. Yet few clumps, aside from these   
trails of colored leaves, could be seen.  
  
The remainder of them shook in the swirling wind and leaves   
twirled about, loosed from their branches. The harvested fields   
held a golden huge to the great squares mixed with ones of black   
tilled soil and the vivid green of the pasture lands.  
  
Looking back into the great square gardens that lay inside the walls   
of the palace she could see the mirror reflection of the colors   
without. Small trees were also colored brilliantly and shedding,   
some bushes and flowers were also dropping their coverings while   
others remained blooming readily.  
  
The five sets of steps that she had mounted to reach this   
observation deck from the surface of the domesticated wilderness   
stared back at her, mockingly. It had taken every curious energy   
that she could rally to continue her climb, forgetting that she would   
have to return down them again.  
  
She knew she would either have to become stronger to battle   
gravity, or simply strive to be more lazy.  
  
Yet she thoroughly enjoyed the time alone, to just absorb   
everything she could. Though surely enough she heard quiet   
footsteps approaching up the stone steps and with turning she   
caught Endymion smiling up at her.  
  
"I shall have to charge you with teaching my soldiers the art of   
disappearing, half the castle is looking for you," he mumbled   
joining her at the top of the palace wall.  
  
"Oh dear," she sighed, "I left the girls in the rose garden." Her   
guardians hated to be left behind by their charge, and they would   
be more than furious with her now.  
  
The prince chuckled and eyed out to the surrounding land as well.   
"I had the feeling your curiosity had gotten the better of your sense   
once more."  
  
The mild rebuke was enough to sufficiently chastise a blush from   
her. "I had thought I was safe enough within the garden walls."   
There was no response from him and her shoulders slumped a bit   
lower. "I will try to be more considerate."  
  
"I am only telling you this for your own protection, Serenity."   
Endymion gently raised her chin and met her eyes. "Only until   
you are fully familiar with the grounds, humor me with this?"  
  
She nodded sincerely and he smiled at her again, sternness was not   
especially one of his better ploys. "Well then, my dear, what did   
you find up here anyway that has kept your attention so long?"  
  
She giggled a bit and turned again to regard the gardens below.   
"More steps going back the way I have come."  
  
He laughed at her joke as well and she turned once more to the   
land and sky as the heavy wind blew her long trails of hair. "Yet I   
have found everything to be of interest to me," she said quietly,   
rebuilding the awe inside her that she had felt before. "Everything   
is simply so amazing to me."  
  
"Yes, I know," he mumbled beside her. Poor Endymion had heard   
her recounts of the "wonderfulness of the Earth" so many times yet   
she kept forgetting that there was no need to relate these things to   
someone born here. Yet she felt so overwhelmed sometimes that   
she needed someone to just listen to her babble endlessly, and   
without much sense, of the whole matter.  
  
He was being so understanding of her, especially since she had   
been free to roam about for two days without much concern,   
except that she remain with her guardians since Endymion and his   
generals needed the time to catch up with the season's schedule.   
He would be bombarded with questions and information of the   
day's highlights upon his return to her side at the day's end and he   
would calmly explain anything to her.  
  
He treated her more as a father than a husband, very watchful and   
protective, but she did not mind in the least. She was indebted to   
him for his patience.  
  
"I do believe they are still searching for us, Princess," he   
murmured into her ear as the wind's constant gust nearly blew   
away his words. She nodded silently and let him guild her back to   
the step's decent. Stopping only a fleeting moment she looked   
back out at the perfect expanse of land about them as the sun began   
its own decent.  
  
Slowly they made their way back to the gardens and Endymion   
lent her the use of his arm for support, although he soon wrapped it   
around her and threatened to carry her down the steps if she were   
to stumble one more time. Unfortunately she was flame red by this   
time and wished heartily for the fierce wind that had been blowing   
her hair across her face atop the wall.  
  
For his part, Endymion ignored her defeated expression and   
continued to chuckle about the whole situation. In all truth, she   
was quite ready to smack him if he made one more "graceful   
royalty" joke.  
  
At the first story landing he stopped them and pulled her fully into   
his arms hugging her lightly and brushing her wind-blown bangs   
aside and waiting for her to catch her breath again. It was a sweet   
gesture and she appreciated it greatly. She hugged him back a   
moment and nodded that she was ready to begin again. He instead   
led her into the door back of the balcony and into the castle once   
more. He respectfully took her arm once more, rather than the   
more intimate display of having his arm around her, and proceeded   
to lead her towards the dinning hall.  
  
Serenity hung close to his side for fear of the berating that her   
guardians would give her once they cornered her alone.  
  
  
The night was windy but peaceful. No storm had threatened the   
country for most of the month since their wedding, still Endymion   
found himself pacing before the large sitting-window as though he   
were waiting for some disaster. Sensing that his efforts were only   
causing his mind to wonder to worse thoughts he returned back to   
the lamplight sat down in the over stuffed chair next to the small   
table that held two mugs of steaming liquid.  
  
Serenity entered from her sleeping chamber dressed in a thin white   
robe that she always wore before bed. Already the newly weds   
had fallen into a ritual. They would return to their quarters, baring   
any social function that they were required to attend, and merely sit   
and talk or read or anything else that should happen on their way.   
His bride would usually change first into something less   
presentable than her formal dresses of state and slump into the   
couch cushions, unless of course she had had an especially exciting   
day to tell him of.  
  
Though tonight she seemed more exhausted than normal and   
fatigue had quieted her lips a bit. She smiled warmly at him and   
took a seat on the black clad couch, lounging at the end nearest to   
him and the table between them and placing her bare feet under   
her. "You seem troubled tonight, Endymion. Did your meeting   
not go well?"  
  
Looking across at her he wondered how she had picked up on that,   
he had been careful not to raise her suspicions… Of course this   
was a child that would notice such things.  
  
"No, nothing for you to worry over. I simply have a few things on   
my mind. I did not mean for you to notice to say the truth."  
  
She giggled lightly and picked up the book that she had been   
reading on. "You tend to get a distanced look to your eyes when   
you have difficult thoughts."  
  
He smiled at the small comment. He had not thought that they had   
known each other long enough to find and remember such   
intrigues about the other, yet he was proven wrong again. He was   
beginning to become use to being the one always wrong in this   
relationship…  
  
"Do I? I shall have to try to stay closer in the future then."  
  
She smiled again at him and picked up one of the cups set beside   
them. Sniffing she crinkled up her nose before sighing and   
gathering herself again to take a sip. She swallowed with a cough   
and frowned down at the liquid. "Is this truly necessary?" she   
asked more of the mug than of him.  
  
Chuckling he watched her movements and only nodded when she   
looked at him for an answer. For the nights Minerva would bring   
her herbal tea made of something green and that must have a   
stench even when it is fresh to smell so terrible cooked, but it   
seemed to be the only thing that allowed her sound sleep while she   
remained unaccustomed to the pressures of Earth. During her first   
stay the maid had pleaded with her to try it and she had become   
use to it as the days wore on. But Endymion would sit up and talk   
with her until her eyelids drooped too heavily for her to pull them   
open any longer and made sure that she was well tucked into her   
bed before entering his own sleeping chamber.  
  
"Fine then," she mumbled opening her book, "I shall leave you to   
your thoughts for a time."  
  
It was an odd response since she was normally not the type to think   
too heavily of her books or place them over a conversation. Yet,   
she must truly know that something weighted him, and was   
prepared to offer any help if he should ask for it during this time   
they spent together. The complexities of her concern touched him.  
  
Gazing at her, motionlessly seated and outlined by black she   
seemed an omnipresent spirit watchful of him, yet unaware of   
herself. He traced down the golden length of her hair as it   
cascaded from its entwined ball, around her shoulder and draped   
itself over the arm of the cushions that she was perched upon.   
Ending in a curled ringlet, it caught the firelight perfectly, as a ray   
of sun would cross a polished surface.  
  
…Much as he remembered it did upon the surface of the drawing   
room's stone and wooden table only this afternoon.  
  
"Prince Endymion?" Kunzite's interruption was a warning sign   
that this meeting had quickly dissolved. His four guardians were   
assembled around him and he felt the weight of their thoughts turn   
to him once again.  
  
"Forgive me, I was trying to think," he said instead to those   
assembled.  
  
"Did you come up with anything?"  
  
"Yes," he muttered, glancing sideways at Jadeite, "a headache."  
  
"Even the High Council is reeling with this news. No one has a   
single idea of how to handle an attack like this." Nephrite's   
usually calm manor was ruffled a bit as he gazed out at the birds   
perched on the spiral room's windowsills. The vaulted windows   
let the light enter but the gloom of its patrons was too much to   
brighten.  
  
"The State will disavow anyone speaking of these things outside of   
their guarded doors. They will never relate this to the Moon unless   
it becomes blatantly apparent. Fear is running rampant within all   
of the upper officials." Zoicite stood also in front of his seat, arms   
folded and eyes closed.  
  
"What can we do to quiet the leaders?" Endymion asked of him.  
  
He shook his head slowly but did not open his eyes from thought.   
"With higher position comes high emotions. They will accept   
nothing less than a full end to this trouble as quickly and quietly as   
possible."  
  
"Then we have to start at the bottom," was Jadeite's only   
comment. He sat, slid down in his chair and with one boot against   
the table's top.  
  
Glancing at him Endymion finally rose to his feet. "How did this   
start? What madness would grip fear inside of common people   
when none was presented to them?"  
  
"That may not be an easy thing to say," Nephrite answered. "The   
normal response of an individual is to fear what they do not know.   
And for the common people, they do not know the Moon. They   
relate it only to power and possibly oppression, which has been   
filled into their heads from years of star-struck bards and wide-  
eyed idiots that play their parts too well."  
  
"He is right." Jadeite looked up to his prince, "The people have   
been conditioned to have a natural fear for any with power that is   
held over them at such a lofty height. They tend to be afraid of it   
falling on them. With the Moon's presence secured to the greatest   
powers of their home they find themselves trapped with   
unwelcome guests."  
  
"This is nonsense. What fear could people possess with being so   
closely allied with the most powerful of worlds in the System.   
Would not most people wish to be tied to something that could   
protect them?" Zoicite's swift manor picked up again on the very   
problem that they were facing. "Why not trust in this decision?"  
  
"They fear oppression by someone much stronger than   
themselves." Nephrite answered to a still room.  
  
"Or they see a mutilation of the ruling order remaining here,"   
Zoicite added, watching carefully the other members around the   
room.  
  
"They fear far removed rule without sympathy?" Kunzite   
questioned turning from the window he was gazing out of.  
  
There was a heavy silence as Endymion himself caught his eyes   
searching the sky outside for a path to walk. Quickly he cast his   
eyes down to the center of the ringed table. A swirled pattern of   
wood and stone shot out from the center and became rays around   
the central impression of the Earth crest. "They fear the removal   
of their rule."  
  
The four other men turned to him, though he did not notice their   
eyes. He stared down at the crest and at the light patterns that   
reflected the sinking sun. "With my marriage the heir to the   
Earth's thrown is open and being sought for. If I remain the named   
successor then they will fear that the Moon and even Serenity's   
influence will sway my intensions from them."  
  
"So then, we must name their fears and show them they are   
unfounded," Kunzite answered. "If they fear what they do not   
know then we should show them."  
  
The other three generals nodded, but Jadeite stopped to pause a   
moment, "What?"  
  
"Kunzite is right, we can do nothing to quiet the fears of the people   
completely until the successor has been named. Until then, we   
have to show them that the Moon is not their enemy and shut down   
these biases completely." Nephrite walked back to the center of   
the room and placed his hands on the table, looked fully at his   
prince not looking at him. "The best way to do that is through the   
princess."  
  
There was silence, yet Endymion did not remove his eyes from the   
light's reflection. "By parading her before people whom have   
taken to the streets of towns to denounce her home and people."   
The deathly quiet of his voice was enough to hush even the birds   
beyond the windows' glass.  
  
"Serenity is a natural lover of people," Nephrite slowly and quietly   
interjected. "She is a charming figure that could easily unite those   
that flock to her. We should not fear that they would turn away   
from her. The princess' true power is that of her own nature."  
  
"There is a second reason," Kunzite continued. "The princess is   
guarded by none other than a member of all habitable planets,   
except for us. The mix in which she keeps herself is also an   
important factor as to how others will view her. She must seem   
sympathetic to all of the System, and then in particular to the   
people here."  
  
"Then in order to be partial, I believe we should call Styx to her   
duty," Zoicite added.  
  
"Styx?"  
  
"Yes, Jadeite," he nodded. "Styx will be the symbol of obedience   
to the Moon and its sovereign. She possesses the confidence of the   
people already, it should be an awakening for some that our   
destiny has not been given as a bridal gift."  
  
"I agree," Kunzite nodded. "She would be an excellent help and   
indeed, she would also be an added guardian for the princess."  
  
Again four pairs of eyes focused on the prince, as he remained   
stationary in the center of them. A moment passed before he   
mutely he nodded and continued to gaze at the golden stripe down   
the center of the planetary crest. A golden light…  
  
The shimmer before his eyes slipped away from his unblinking   
sight as Endymion once again found himself seated in his own   
quarters. Serenity's hair fell from its curled position atop the   
couch's side and drooped as its owner slowly appeared to be   
loosing her battle to sleep.  
  
The prince cautiously watched her a moment, her knees drawn up   
and feet tucked into the cushions, her golden clad head resting on   
her hand, which was mounted by her elbow on the couch's arm.   
Her perfect blue eyes were closed and the book that had been   
forgotten by them was in danger of falling to the floor.  
  
He smiled warmly at this angelic child and rose to find himself   
stiff. Had he been reminiscing all that time?  
  
Carefully he took the book from her hands, marking her page and   
setting it on the table. Gently he nudged her shoulder to wake her   
and did so three more times before her eyelids slowly opened. He   
laughed when she finally recognized him and helped her to her feet   
and into her sleeping chamber, the tea making her more drowsy by   
the minute.  
  
He helped her under the covers within the dark room and waited to   
tuck her in as she discarded the cover-robe. Only a pale reflection   
of white could be seen as she tossed it to the other side of the bed   
and reclined fully. Endymion snuggled the covers around her and   
brushed her bangs back from her face. "Evening Princess," he   
mumbled before turning from the room.  
  
Dimly he could hear her murmur an answer as she let the herbs   
take their power over her. He stood beside her curtained bed for a   
few moments, watching her through memory only in the dark   
chamber.  
  
How could the people of Earth be rebelling against the oracles and   
leaders of the world out of fear of such a child as this?  
  
  
Serenity sat at the very edge of her seat and kept both hands   
clutched over the windowsill's polished wood. She peered out and   
around her in constant awe. Only now and then would she move   
her gaze from the window in order to look back to coach's other   
side window, one that was not being occupied nearly as much.  
  
Endymion was calmly reading through some papers and not paying   
much of any attention to his surroundings. The coach was steadily   
advancing towards the next point in his schedule and he had no   
reason to be so taken by the fall scenery, as he had seen it many   
times before. Though he would slip careful, and humored, glances   
at the young princess and her supposed infatuation with the land,   
sky and planet around her.  
  
It was at such a time when he found that she was stilly intoxicated   
with the nature passing by her personal window. He smiled at her   
as she did not notice his eyes and simply found himself amazed by   
her amazement.  
  
Through his generals' strategy his normal ventures around the   
military training posts within a few days journey around the High   
Palace's town of Valhalla made for an opportune time to display   
his new bride a bit. The men were spread through five different   
bases and they were carted in from all over the world in order to   
train directly under the supervision of Endymion's select groups of   
trainers, generals and officers. He would himself dictate one of the   
installations once this round of "meet and greet" was ended. Of   
course, that was the one just outside of Valhalla and it was the one   
that they had ventured to first.  
  
Serenity was not accustomed, in any way, to being paraded in front   
of military types; the lead guard and generals always took care of   
that on the Moon. She had had no formal training in dealing with   
the force of arms, yet she was reminded by Minerva before the   
maid would release her to go on this voyage, that the men she   
would meet were first and foremost, men. They were not born   
soldiers nor were they blood thirsty or cruel, more than any man   
would be. And in truth she had found the woman's comments very   
respectable.  
  
The first institution that they visited she pulled every grace and   
charm she could. Endymion greeted the men for their introduction   
to this type of life-style. Some of the younger men would become   
standing soldiers; others were simply there for the sake of   
planetary safety and reserves in time of crisis. The mix was wide   
and varied, yet they were all addressed in their own respect by   
their prince, though she was secured outside of the main base for   
most of the introductions and comments.  
  
It was at the end of the day when she was called to the hall proper   
and Endymion took the liberty of introducing her to the assembly.   
She had never seen that many men standing before in her life and   
she found it quite disconcerting to be the only woman before them.   
After all, her own guardians were strategically placed outside of   
the hall for the time.  
  
Endymion had waved her down from the small stage set up in front   
of the crowd and took her hand as she dismounted the steps.   
"Your new princess" was the most formal title that he used with   
this audience and she felt a bit more at home aside him and within   
closer distance to them. She had smiled enthusiastically at them   
and had spoken only simple sentences. "I am pleased to meet with   
all of you and to thank you personally for the support that you are   
showing to this beautiful and wonderful planet. I am also proud to   
know some of the men that have had a hand in the training of the   
Moon's forces as I know that your influence on them is most   
honorable and respected." She clasped her hands together in front   
of her and bowed slightly to the assembly still with a genuine smile   
on her face.  
  
She was surprised when she looked up to see a few of the officers   
in the front line bowing to one knee before her. The shock must   
have been apparent as there were murmurs heard around the room   
as men followed suit. It was not long before every knee in the   
room was bent and she found herself standing before a sea of   
bowed heads and mute whispers. For reason unknown she found   
herself giggling merrily at the display, her at the front of a captive   
army, it was unthought of!  
  
She turned to look at the prince and found him gazing down at her   
with eyes of pride and a smile of humor as well. She smiled   
openly and giggled again as the attendance began to rise once   
more. "I am honored that such a quantity of men would be so   
taken by me. Dreadful that I am already a married woman," she   
chuckled.  
  
Endymion silently took her hand and kissed it warmly, eyeing her   
evilly for the comment. Though the rest of the assembled seemed   
to find it a bit more amusing. There were even catcalls heard from   
the back and a few claps brought by the less disciplined recruits.  
  
The experience had been wonderful. Both to the still brimming   
princess whose thoughts strayed constantly to the amount of   
people that she would be meeting with and the added perspective   
that she was multiplying her already full repertoire, and to the   
more severe prince who's ideas and planning had taken root and   
blossomed so soon after their inception. Happily they rode on and   
in silence thanked each other for this day's events.  
  
If only for a single day.  
  
  
The greeting room was anything but bright at this hour of the   
night, but it was sufficient enough to receive one guest from the   
sparkling cascade of purple as a young woman materialized in the   
center of the chamber.  
  
A light lavender dress draped her frame and fell to the floor in   
straight folds. Her arms were covered once with a snug under-  
layer of white an then again with a long, loose fold of the slit-arm   
of the gown. A long V-neckline rose to curve around her   
shoulders, revealing the square line of the white beneath.  
  
Her face appeared pale in the dim light yet her hair, reaching well   
past her knees, shimmered black. Slowly she opened her eyes and   
quickly took in the five men gathered to greet her, and then back   
again to the central figure. "Greetings, Prince Endymion."   
Sweeping her gaze around the others she nodded once more,   
"Generals."  
  
"Thank you for coming so quickly, Styx."  
  
"Of course. I understand the dilemma we are facing."  
  
"Then I suggest we begin," he commented turning to the door.   
The young woman quickly caught up to his steps, leaving his   
generals in their trail. "What has happened so far?"  
  
"There have been uprisings in fifteen major seats and many, many   
more among the outlaying villages and towns. The oracles find   
themselves at the brunt of all of it and they are demanding to hear   
from the palace as to what shall be done for the people of Earth."   
The monotone was quiet and hurried as the party advanced the   
stairs to the circular room at the tip of the Northeastern turret   
tower. His generals' private meeting room was the only place   
within the castle that he felt should be appropriate for these   
discussions.  
  
"So then the numbers have increased since I first heard of these   
incidences." She followed in silence as her slippers made the least   
of noise among them upon mounting the stone steps. They entered   
into the high room and Kunzite was the one to find the lamp by   
memory through the darkness. He placed it in the center of the   
combination table and Styx resignedly seated herself. "What have   
you come to as a solution?"  
  
Endymion stared out at the dark world without. "We have none."  
  
The pure emotionless comment took all of the room by surprise as   
they looked to their leader and simply waited for him to   
continue… he did not.  
  
Kunzite was the first to clear his throat and begin. "We had taken   
the decision to promote Serenity and to show her about in order to   
gain the trust of the people, but with the increase in only the last   
few days we have been forced to rethink our take on all of this. At   
the pace at which this is spreading it will reach not only the Moon,   
but the rest of the System if something more drastic is not done."  
  
"I see," she commented. "I understand your former thinking. The   
oracles themselves can not understand the recent developments any   
more than we can. They have been taken in by the presence of this   
princess. Yet, they know more of her than the common people."  
  
"With your influence, do you believe this could still work?"   
Nephrite leaned gently over the table to face her more fully in the   
wavering light.  
  
She looked at him long and hard before speaking. "As the High   
Oracle, Kallisto would know more than I, yet I do believe that they   
would help in any way possible to first calm the people and second   
to endear the princess to them."  
  
"Yet we still have to deal with the possibility of the other world   
leaders if they should hear of this. So far we have managed to   
keep this from the princess and her court, but that will not last long   
enough."  
  
"Why can we not just tell the people out right?" Jadeite   
interrupted. As the youngest among them, he was also the most   
action oriented. Though that course of action rarely settled much,   
Endymion enjoyed having this view brought up. And right now,   
he was open to any avenue.  
  
"Could that work?"  
  
Styx placed her hands in her lap and closed her eyes a moment   
before regarding the prince. "I do not know for sure. Though, I   
must admit that these seem to be the only two choices that I can   
come up with."  
  
"I do not like the idea," Zoicite interrupted. "The past has always   
seen that what someone says can easily be reinterpreted and   
'adjusted' according to what is needed for the moment."  
  
Styx nodded once again. "He is correct. Time has a way of   
changing everything except itself."  
  
"And as we are finite we must find another way to deal with these   
unfounded fears," Endymion finished.  
  
"The question becomes how?"  
  
There was an uneasy silence that filtered through the room. The   
prince kept his station at the graying window. Dawn would be   
close, yet their decision was not yet decided on. Or was it? "There   
is one other suggestion that I have not brought forth yet."  
  
"What is it, Endymion?" Kunzite knew very well that anything   
that his prince did not lay directly out on the table before a   
discussion was something that he did not wish to have known until   
all other lines of hope were closed.  
  
"The Queen has made the suggestion that we follow through with   
the idea of confronting the people with Serenity, only on a larger   
scale."  
  
"How much larger?"  
  
"Much," he said, turning fully to the group. "She proposes that the   
whole of the System being introduced rightly to the princess, here   
on Earth, would be a more appropriate step."  
  
Jadeite stood from his slumped posture, "What would that   
influence?"  
  
"I see what she means," Styx commented quietly. "The Queen is   
saying that the people of Earth fear that the Moon will become this   
all powerful force over them. Therefore, if they see the Princess of   
the Moon present here on Earth before the whole of the System's   
representatives, that would imply that she has no barriers against   
embracing the Earth as her second home. Therefore she would not   
impose any harsh treatment upon it. …It makes for a sense of   
pride and loyalty."  
  
"Is there not a danger though, that this could go wrong?" Jadeite   
asked, clearly not take with the idea.  
  
"There is always a danger. Though, I would say that the princess   
is in more danger now if we do nothing." Endymion was out of his   
element in such an uneasy state that this worry was putting him in.   
Every alternative seemed worthless now that they lay out in the   
open. He had come to only one option that could possibly help.   
…And he was bound to make it work.  
  
  
"Ah, such is always the case." The dim outline of a figure began   
to materialize before a peaked window in the uppermost position   
of a turret tower on the Earth's High Palace. The miniscule ripple   
that the figure made in the backdrop of the barely dawning night   
created only a wisp of an image. "They look at me, yet through   
me, all at once."  
  
The wisp seemed to settle in a seated position as her shape   
materialized a bit more in the brightening sky. She placed an   
elbow against an imaginary armchair and rested her chin upon her   
hand, gazing stilly back at the young prince of Earth who remained   
at the window, gazing out.  
  
"Yet can I blame him?" she cooed to herself. "After all, he has   
many other troubles on his mind."  
  
She waved another outlined hand in front of her, one that seemed   
to trail the figment of cloth which never ended as it simply bled   
back into the still darkness. A bubble of light appeared before her   
as images played out. "Take a good look, Prince Endymion. Your   
people are afraid and fighting. Their love of you makes them more   
and more untrusting of those that would take your love."  
  
There was a snicker that carried a note of humor with it.   
"Planetary jealousy, priceless is it not?" She waved the figment of   
the hand that she had been lounging on vaguely in his direction,   
"Now the women, I suppose I could see, after all they have lost   
you even in their imaginations. A married man indeed," she   
sniffed. "So married that his quarters now consists of two bed   
chambers. I find that quaint," she sighed, placing her hands around   
what was presumably the knee of a crossed leg.  
  
She turned to look at her magical pet and then again to the   
window-framed prince. "Misguided love, I tell you truthfully, the   
purest of all evils." The scenes played out within the confines of   
the ball of light. Scenes of screaming voices, fights in streets   
already bloodied, an oracle locking herself within the confines of   
her home amid the pounding of fists, and other things, on her   
chamber door. They were the visions of a world turning ever so   
slowly upside down.  
  
"It is the reversal of the poles, dear prince," she murmured   
uncontentedly. "All they once trusted have now become targets of   
those that want answers, those that want knowledge, those that   
want hope, and those that simply want to break something." To   
prove her point there was a vision of a chair being thrown across a   
room to crash and break against the opposite wall. "These are   
people that have lost knowledge and are loosing faith." She shifted   
back to see, from the corner of a ghostly eye, that the man was still   
there.  
  
"Intellect, correctly applied, will always confirm faith… yet faith   
must come first. You see, the leap of faith is needed before   
anything else can be built upon it. The will must be sacrificed for   
a short time in order to step off the ledge of despair and find, no   
matter how roughly, solid ground again. It is then that the   
knowledge gained by even the most tortured of experiences can be   
put to use." She looked back from her reverie to her unhearing,   
unseeing, audience. "Once you loose faith, you loose direction,   
and if direction is lost, the maze has won."  
  
She paused as the light of dawn was agonizingly slowly creeping   
into the sky. The sphere was still recounting events, images, the   
mood of the planet. "They are becoming sheep, and sheep need a   
shepherd, Endymion."  
  
The prince closed his eyes slowly and turned partially from the   
pane as though he had heard her words. The wisp of an image   
vanished from the ever-brightening sky, yet emerged standing next   
to the window that Endymion was seen through. She appeared to   
swish a hand through her hair, which again showed no end to it, as   
though her figure was merely an assimilated ripple in the darkness.  
  
"Tell me," she seemed to move one arm to waist height so that she   
could place her elbow against it and her chin on her hand once   
more, "do you think that you are that man?" With the breeze she   
seemed to float up to look directly at the man who had just   
reopened his eyes to continue his vigil. "…I wonder."  
  
@}---_____________  
"Fear is the prison of the heart." – Anonymous  
  
"There's nothing in the middle of the road but a yellow stripe and   
dead armadillos." - Jim Hightower, Texas Agricultural   
Commissioner  
  



	7. Chapter 6

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: Trouble begun, trouble continuing. Dedicated to the peace   
keepers… and we are all called on to be peacekeepers.  
  
  
Chapter 6  
@}---  
  
  
The gardens of Earth were slowly dying back and settling down for   
the winter months. Serenity found it sad in a way, yet she was   
reminded often that they would come back to more than full glory   
with the spring's touch. Yet some of the bushes still clung to their   
green life. The winds had become colder and a small fire in their   
quarter's hearth now accompanied the nights, which were coming   
sooner and sooner each evening. Even now, the sun was dipping   
away and had left only a patch of sky that could be seen between   
the walls of the castle, cutting deep shadows into the pathways.   
And yet the princess lounged at the third floor balcony's rail,   
seated on the bench that was positioned against it.  
  
Figures of gardeners were seen below, scuttling here and there,   
tending to the remains of their work for the year. So captured by   
the sights, and her own thoughts of the differences of Earth, she   
did not notice Endymion's approach. Her first indication was that   
there was someone behind her, the next was that she recognized   
the same "Evening Princess" that she was greeted and salutated   
with each night.  
  
She turned to gaze up at him surprised, yet happy. There was   
something different she had noticed in him the past few weeks. He   
was constantly lost in thought and appeared worried or gloomy for   
reason that she did not know, though she wished he would talk to   
her.  
  
He quietly seated himself beside her and leaned an elbow on the   
railing behind them. "Our guest should be along shortly, but I   
wanted to fill you in beforehand," he said looking at her, frowning   
a bit and then brushing a few intrusive bangs back from her face,   
before continuing. "Lady Styx is a member of my cousin's house.   
She is the oracle in my Mother's home city of Concordia and has   
been graced with marvelous powers to control the influence of the   
Golden Crystal. She is highly praised for her success."  
  
Serenity looked at him a bit confused, "So then, she is an oracle,   
one of the people that can tap into the Crystal's power and send   
and receive messages, images, whatever and so forth, right?" she   
mumbled.  
  
"Correct. The Moon is small enough that oracles are not   
necessary, yet here there is one for every major city, and in most of   
the outlying towns and villages there are less developed members   
of this coalition. Just as the members of your guardians are able to   
tap into the powers of their home crystals, so to these people are   
able to do the same, only on a smaller scale most of the time."  
  
"So then, this woman is more akin to my keepers."  
  
There was a small pause as he nodded, looking behind them   
instead, into the gardens. "Indeed, she was to be one of your   
guardians."  
  
Serenity blinked at the comment, "What?"  
  
Tearing his unseeing gaze from the dying plants Endymion looked   
back at her. "Just as all of the other habitable worlds contributed   
one of their most worthy members to your inner court, Earth too   
was to choose and send a suitable person to be your protection.   
Due to some of the old hostilities and because of the time that it   
took for us to accept Styx as that protectress our mating was   
scheduled before her arrival to you."  
  
"So you then took her place as the member of my court?" she   
commented a bit humored by the idea.  
  
"I became the Earth's gift to you, if you would like to put it   
bluntly," he said with mocked hurt.  
  
"Oh, how rude of them, they did not even allow me to choose," she   
pouted, propping herself against his side.  
  
"Thank you, Princess, I am honored to know that you would have   
rejected me so outright."  
  
She giggled slightly yet she remained silent this time, though she   
began to think of the woman that was so close to being a member   
of her small circle of friends. "Styx, why would any child be given   
that name?"  
  
He sighed slightly as he picked out a lock of her hair and began   
fiddling with it absent-mindedly. "That was not a choice made by   
her true parents." She looked up at him confused before he   
continued. "You see, she was not born, but found. My cousin and   
several of his men and family were out on a hunting trip when they   
came across the child. It was the dead of winter and she was lying   
unconscious, yet somehow unfrozen, on an iced-over river. At   
first, I would say, the men thought she was a displaced child-  
nymph that normally moved through those waters. On her waking   
they discovered she had no memory of what had happened or even   
who she was. Because of the way they found her, they named her   
Styx and she remained as Mother's removed cousin during the   
search for her family, though no one ever claimed her. Some still   
say that she is the daughter of a sea or ice deity."  
  
"And she was taken in by the family?"  
  
He nodded absently, "Yes, but after long deliberation. It was not   
until her powers were discovered that she was welcomed by most   
of the family. That was also the cause of why she was not allowed   
to be the correctly chosen member for your guard for so long. Yet   
there was little other choice. The only other person on Earth   
capable of surpassing her powers was that of Kallisto, the High   
Oracle here in Valhalla, yet she is needed in her current place."  
  
"I have heard much of Kallisto, though I have only managed to   
meet her a few times."  
  
"Yes, she is away much of the time in training and searching for   
the other members of her sisterhood."  
  
There was a contemplative sigh as Serenity took in the information   
before coming to a completely obscure question, "Is it not odd how   
most of all of the powerful figures on all of the worlds are   
female?"  
  
"In truth, I have noticed," he responded with a touch of fated satire   
in his voice.  
  
Serenity giggled again and moved to look at him. "So then, are   
Lady Kallisto and Lady Styx stronger in their powers than you,   
dear Prince?"  
  
He smiled at her with a shrewd expression in his eyes.  
  
"Under no circumstances." Both of them looked up to find the   
voice belonged to a woman standing placidly a few meters away.   
"Forgive me for interrupting, yet Prince Endymion is most   
assuredly the most powerful of any the Earth has ever witnessed."  
  
"You should not flatter me so much, Styx," he commented with a   
quiet smile.  
  
"No flattery at all, Sire."  
  
Endymion stood and offered Serenity a hand to help her up. She   
accepted with a smile and looked again to the person that she was   
to be introduced to this evening. Serenity found the woman in   
question stood draped in a lavender gown of sunset in the same   
style that she had come to know Endymion's mother to be fond of.  
  
The princess was lead to her on the arm of her husband and was   
introduced to the other simply, "Serenity, I wish you to meet Lady   
Styx. She is my mother's cousin and has been brought at my   
request."  
  
The woman bowed slightly, black hair as long as her own, slipped   
around her shoulder to cape her frame in a black aura in the filmy   
twilight. "It is a great honor to meet you, Princess Serenity of the   
Moon Kingdom."  
  
Serenity found herself almost without words for reason she did not   
know, yet caught herself before she had to be elbowed. "It is a   
pleasure, Lady Styx."  
  
"Styx will be adding to our group for a time, especially for the   
preparations of Mother's celebration," Endymion explained.  
  
"It will be nice to know you better, Princess," she commented,   
smiling politely.  
  
Serenity smiled back and nodded. She certainly seemed likable   
enough and very polite, though she could not shake the feeling that   
there was more to this woman than simple nobility. She was not   
haughty, but aloof, at the same time. There was a supreme   
confidence in her manor and stance as well as intelligence behind   
her deep, red-velvet, eyes…  
  
  
Once again the Earth's palace was flooded with people, yet the   
Moon's court was not the only otherworldly royalty present.   
Members from every planetary mass were in attendance for Queen   
Freya's birthday celebration.  
  
The past few weeks since the announcement was made of this   
festival, Serenity had been busy in helping with the planning and   
arranging as well as traveling about the area for this or that with   
her husband. She had to say that she had met with more people in   
this short time period than she had ever before, yet she was   
enthralled by it. Her normal, hyperactive and curious nature was   
in danger of being overwhelmed yet she had looked forward to this   
night for some time in anticipation of its events.  
  
For the festivities, and in order to shelter the greatest number of   
people, the Rose Hall was forsaken in exchange for the Northern   
most ballroom, the Ice Hall. Within this area of the castle the   
metaphors of winter were displayed prominently and the huge   
central-wall expanse was covered over with white plaster and ice-  
blue drapings. The windows, constituting most of one wall, faced   
outside of the palace instead of into the gardens as the other halls   
would during times in the year when they would offer a vision of   
growth.  
  
Though the vaulted panes of glass did not look in to green, so too   
did they not look out to anything. They were frosted over   
perpetually as though the icy nails of Winter herself had scraped   
and slashed at them in her attempt to gain entrance. Only clear   
patterns swirled through this icy prism in the shapes of peaceful   
snowflakes.  
  
The pure elegance was mesmerizing, and the scene only became so   
much more enchanting as the people, sheltered by such an   
environment, waltzed about, dressed in every color the eye could   
claim.  
  
Serenity felt warmed by the peace settled inside this room. Being   
now a member of the Earth Queen's family, she and Endymion   
were announced first, and she entered on his arm, in order to stand   
next to the king and queen during the formalities. King Hermes of   
Mercury was announced next as he entered with her guardian Ami   
on his arm. King Gradivus and Queen Ballona represented the   
ruling family of Mars and were escorted by Rei. Hephaestus, king   
of Venus entered next, proudly escorting Mina on his arm and   
trailing his son Eros, the crowned prince. Queen Juno completed   
the procession, led by Lita, to represent the royalty of Jupiter. The   
whole of the assembly showed every mix of people and relations   
and resources, and they were gathered in one place not with an   
intention or high meeting to attend, but to rejoice and to be merry   
in the relations that the System could bring together.  
  
Serenity found it most warming to see all of these gathered in   
peace and harmony. She turned slightly to look up at Endymion at   
her side. He smiled back after catching her eye. He seemed   
distracted, even on this night, yet she placed it only as concern that   
all should go well. Turning to her other side she watched a   
conversation between, her would be guardian, Styx and the High   
Oracle, charged with recording and broadcasting the events of this   
night to the others not only on Earth, but also to the ends of the   
habited realm.  
  
Kallisto seemed much like the queen herself. The long hair,   
deemed appropriate for the women of Earth she was beginning to   
realize, hung slightly waved and in a beautiful deep chestnut   
brown. Catching green eyes shimmered now more blue, now more   
hassle as the light whispered different shades to them. A gown cut   
round off her shoulders shrouded her much in the same fashion of   
that of her queen and of Styx's aside her. All in all, she found the   
two women very much akin.  
  
"Tell me," Endymion interrupted her thoughts, "are the women of   
your court all related into the royal family of their planets?"  
  
Serenity nodded as she watched them talking quietly with their   
company. "Yes, though none of them are the chosen heirs of their   
homes, they are all princesses. Rei and Ami are both second   
children. Mina is the third of her family and Lita was the fourth   
before her elder brother's death during childhood."  
  
"I see," he commented looking over the room. She too cast her   
gaze over the people, trying earnestly to find what it was that he   
seemed to be keeping watch for, though nothing of ill interest   
caught her eye.  
  
Indeed most of the evening was smooth and calm. Serenity only   
managed to spill something once and she was doing very well at   
not tripping over her, or Endymion's, feet. Of course, Lady Rei   
was rather angered that the spill was on her instead of the offender,   
but the princess of Mars was draped in red, it really did not show   
terribly. Granted that she was attempting to keep her and her   
husband on the floor and well within the public's eye, in case.  
  
It was a soothing night, one filled with family and hospitality as   
she had not known on the Moon and she wished that her mother   
could have been here with her as well. Yet, her home was   
demanding and the ruler could not be called away that long.   
Serenity silently began to wonder how often she would be able to   
be here like this once she was crowned to her ultimate thrown.  
  
The thought was sobering, yet it did not have long to etch itself   
into her mind before the shattering sound of chaos broke the room   
to pieces.  
  
  
The flash of light blinded the room and the shockwave smashed   
every window from their stone holdings, sending those near to   
them into the mob of guests in the center of the floor. They   
ducked to avoid the onrush of glass shards and the cold blast of   
wind that accompanied the on slot.  
  
Kallisto leveled herself back to straight height near the thrones on   
the far end of the hall and, through the eyes of an oracle connected   
to the hundreds of others within the System, watched in horror as   
this night turned dark…  
  
The silver lamp stands near the outer wall were tossed easily from   
their positions and only a few flickering fires still glowed in the   
confused, screaming room. Yet it was clear enough, through the   
moonlight outside that the blast was only a calling card of their   
new guests.  
  
Outlined dimly between the stone arches of what had been the wall   
of windows stood a row of figures, dressed in black and   
unrecognizable. The center of which held within one palm a ball   
of orange energy calmly at the ready. Guests were running from   
the figments and scratching at the doors in order to be out of harms   
way… they were wrong.  
  
The ball of energy leapt from its place and smashed into the closest   
door, igniting the wood and forcing everyone back in fear and pain   
from the blast. It was then that the first of the royal guardians   
disentangled themselves from the mad mob and came to the front   
of the shadowed men. Lady Jupiter was the first to blare out a   
warning or question quickly swallowed by the din of screams.   
Mars and Mercury arrived next to her side and joined her in   
forming a line between the attackers an attackies.  
  
An artificial barrier at best, they shouted from their place and   
prepared for the worst as yet another ball of energy formed in the   
hand of the central figure. None of them had moved since their   
fiery entrance. Fighting their way to the front she saw both Lady   
Venus and Lady Styx come forward. Yet Styx had been with the   
prince and princess only a few minutes earlier. Where was the   
couple?  
  
Kallisto could not see to distinguish them, yet a group caught her   
attention as the others around her cowered back from the attackers.   
Huddled low she picked out General Kunzite and the Earth's   
warriors gathered in a protective circle around what she assumed   
would be them. Indeed Styx still hung back from the other girls,   
positioning herself half between them and the circled group.  
  
It was then that the second ball was released from its place.   
Though it was not aimed or destructive it flew only to hover over   
the room and cast a light over the group that she had just spotted.   
The voices of the room died away as they became focused on this   
single point of orange light…  
  
"Forgive our intrusion, Queen Freya. We only wish you a happy   
birthday, My Lady." The callused voice belonged to the leader   
and the only one deemed allowed to act. From aside her, Queen   
Freya stood from her husband's shelter.  
  
"What is the meaning of such an outrage?" she demanded as   
harshly as the woman was capable.  
  
"Please excuse us, but we have only come to gather one thing,   
Your Highness." Turning again to where the light was shining he   
took a few steps forward, the energy brightening the nearer he   
came to it. "Do not be alarmed, we shall do no more damage,   
provided we can complete our task and be on our way."  
  
The planetary guardians as well retreated father back in order to be   
just before what appeared to be the main target. Kallisto   
recognized immediately that in such closed circumstances the   
girls' powers were rendered impossible without harming the crowd   
around them. Someone had to clear out this room.  
  
Kallisto stood and collected her composure, concentrating on the   
innocents of the room. Yet before she could gather herself to   
transport them to another holding she was urgently shaken from   
the side. "You must not do anything that would provoke them   
farther!" came the whispered voice of her queen. "That energy   
could kill all of them if it was dispersed now."  
  
She was right and in knowing that, Kallisto found herself only able   
to sit and watch, waiting for a moment that would allow her use   
her gifts.  
  
Within the center of the floor the leader had stopped a distance   
from the group and was simply studying them curiously. "I do not   
understand why you protect her. We wish only for the Moon's   
leech to be handed over to us."  
  
"Never," came the low, very calm answer, barely heard yet heard   
by everyone.  
  
"What?" This was not an answer that their imprisoner was   
expecting. Or not from a person he expected.  
  
The voice was solid and demanding, and as the words struck, the   
form of their prince could be seen to rise from the center of the   
protective huddle. "Never."  
  
With the pronouncement of his single word the doors of the room   
were thrust open. With escape possible, people flooded out of the   
room, flinging themselves into the fray and carrying the wounded   
haphazardly.  
  
"No!" was the figure's response as the ball flared to triple its size.  
  
Kallisto was ready as she steadied her nerves and focused on the   
royalty grouped beneath it, yet a demanding voice inside of her   
head snapped her out of her preparations. "The others! Get the   
others out! I will keep these."  
  
Styx's voice permeated her thoughts and she obeyed without   
question as she refocused on those fighting for the doors. With a   
flare of blue light they disappeared along with the other High   
Royalty that had been surrounding her.  
  
Again an almost agonized scream echoed from the blackened   
figure and the others of the party rushed forward brandishing   
swords intent for the frontline defense of the princess. Yet with no   
fear of the crowd's harm the guardians lashed out at that group.   
Mercury fell back aside Styx and created a cloaking fog around the   
group to block them from the on slot as the other girls used their   
powers to keep the group from forming too close to their target.  
  
Yet it was the main leader that had not moved from his position as   
the energy continued to pulse wildly and continually faster. The   
guardians were now joined by the heated generals as they sprung   
out and around the original line of defense, trying desperately to   
get to the creator of their threat. Zoicite made it over one opponent   
and around the fray first, lashing out with only a sword as he did   
not have time to compose an attack. He was the first to bear down   
on the still unmoved figure and with sword high he plunged in to   
make one final blow.  
  
Yet mid-swing he was sent sprawling back onto the floor as a   
shockwave hit not only him but the whole of the room again,   
displacing several and dissipating Mercury's fog. Again the ball   
grew and with one strangled scream he cursed the princess to death   
should she not be removed from Endymion's arms.  
  
The two knelt on the floor; Endymion with sword drawn and   
Serenity clung to his left side. He held her with one arm, forcing   
her behind him as much as he could should he have to rise and   
meet this threat. Although the largest was hovering just above   
him.  
  
"I will not let you take her." The words rang throughout the room   
even though they were hardly spoken as the prince gathered his   
powers fully to him and set his mark through the line of his   
fighting friends.  
  
The leader swore again and clenched his fists in front of himself,   
dropping the ball a meter from its altitude, and with harsh cries he   
jerked his arms straight into the air, opening his hands wide.  
  
The ball plunged downward and Endymion curled the princess   
around and into his arms in a motion that would condense their   
area, yet not remove them from harm's way.  
  
The fighters twirled too late to do anything but watch. Kallisto   
stood panicked knowing that she could not remove them in time   
but reached out desperately in a vain attempt.  
  
Yet a blue light flashed into being as the words "Earth Life,   
Shield" echoed destructively throughout the gasping room.  
  
The brilliant fireball of energy descended and smashed straight   
into the pair as a blinding stream of shockwaves hit, knocking   
everyone to the floor and sending some of the attackers out of the   
shattered windows.  
  
The darkness that resulted was complete except for a glow   
reflecting from the once pristine marble around Kallisto's sprawled   
frame. Looking back through tear-clouded eyes she saw that it   
came from a small bubble of light covering over the place that   
Endymion and Serenity had been.  
  
Slowly the blue of the outer covering faded away and a golden   
light was revealed to be holding the two in a tight embrace; their   
figures outlined in the glow as it also slowly died away. Yet it was   
only when the prince raised his head that Kallisto dare breath   
again.  
  
He slowly opened his eyes, eyes that now shimmered golden in the   
darkness due to the use of his hold on the Golden Crystal of Earth,   
his body becoming a conductor for it. Yet there, only a meter in   
front of the two sat Styx, propped up by her arms. She had been   
the one to cast her power into the shield that had surrounded them   
and in doing so she had also been the closest to the blast when it   
rocked past her.  
  
The others were beginning to regain their feet and some of the   
attackers were attempting to flee through the windows, though   
many were in poor shape due to the guardian's attacks. The rest   
found themselves wrapped inside of Venus's golden chain.  
  
…Yet, there was no sign of the leader between the fallen bodies   
and shards of once peaceful snowflakes.  
  
@}---_____________  
"Trouble is a part of your life, and if you don't share it, you don't   
give the person who loves you a chance to love you enough." –   
Dinah Shore  
  
"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world   
walks out." - Walter Winchell   
  
  



	8. Chapter 7

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: The growth of emotion does not grow alone. The soul of the   
person must also intercede. We bear no hardships alone, and we   
receive no joys alone. Dedicated to anyone else out there in a long   
distance relationship; the quote at the bottom is for you! ;)  
  
  
Chapter 7  
@}---  
  
  
The days were long and bright, perfect weather permeated the   
gardens and the palace grounds. Flowers were in full bloom   
everywhere and the wind was warm and cheery. Such a typical   
day on the Moon, always bright, always sunny, always perfect…  
  
And Serenity was sick to tears of it. For once, just once, she   
wanted it to down-pour on a couple on a picnic, she wanted the   
wind to blow away a woman's favorite veil, she wanted someone   
somewhere on this ball of rock to be miserable!  
  
"Such a thing to think," she mumbled to herself. "Were the   
Councils to hear that they would define me as being under the   
'influence' of the Earth Sphere." The princess turned and threw   
the pillow that she had been holding against her headboard. "Well   
quite frankly, I am!"  
  
She immediately picked up the pillow again when it bounced back   
to her and cradled it close as she had done for the last three days.   
Serenity simply sat in the center of her bed, facing the wall, and   
thought. Of what she could not honestly say most of the time; her   
thoughts bounced between the Earth and the Moon, Endymion and   
her mother, war and peace, hate and love, eternity and fidelity,   
salted or unsalted peanuts…  
  
They all meant something to her during the time that she was   
spending walled up in her perfect little room on her perfect little   
home world, in her perfect little "I am an obedient daughter and   
princess to the thrown of the System" life. She abhorred the entire   
concept.  
  
She wanted to see Earth again. She wanted to see dying flowers in   
the garden, and shiver in the middle of the night when the winds   
were screaming outside. She wanted to feel oppressed by the   
gravity and drink that dreadful tasting tea to help her sleep. She   
wanted to be with her husband! Was that such an atrocious   
thought for a woman to have? She only wanted Endymion…  
  
Serenity clutched the pillow as tightly to her as she could as   
another wave of tears hit her full force. Her eyes filled before she   
could stop them and the anger that she had been willing to flow   
turned cold and hard in her chest.  
  
She only wanted Endymion.  
  
She had been drug away from his side by her own mother, and the   
High Council had quickly barred the direct contact of anyone with   
the Earth or its members. The world below her was cut off from   
the rest of the galaxy as councils and meetings and other useless   
wastes of time were heard. And yet, none of that would have   
mattered nearly as much if it would simply not apply to herself. In   
fact, only to herself and Endymion, her husband…  
  
The tears would not stop again and she tried once more to feel   
angry, enraged, at the thought of blocking her from… But her lip   
trembled until she bit down on it and her eyes would not clear   
enough to see. The sobs were rising in her throat and she finally   
gave in, collapsing onto her side, pillow still smashed against her   
chest, trying for all its worth to muffle the agonizingly loud   
heartbeat.  
  
"Why?" she moaned, over and over in her own pathetic chant.   
"Why?"  
  
She suddenly sat up once more and swiped at her tears. She would   
not keep crying like this, she would not. Yet as she looked around   
her for a tissue her eyes clouded again and her bottom lip still   
trembled. "Stop it!" she commanded herself beating her fists   
against the pillow, "Just stop…"  
  
Nothing let up and she simply continued to leak. Yet she felt the   
small padding of little feet on her bed behind her and she brushed   
away the tears again, resolving once more to grow up.  
  
"No use hiding them from me," came the slightly haughty   
sounding voice. She turned with an angered face to the black cat   
that was sitting beside her now on the bed. Large blue eyes calmly   
looked back at her and a golden crescent moon adorned her   
forehead. Yet in front of her paws lay a new kerchief. "Go ahead   
and take it. You should see yourself, you are a royal mess."  
  
Serenity snatched up the white cloth, "Well, at least I am still   
royal."  
  
"Oh you are royal all right," came the snooty reply, "a royal—"  
  
"What do you want?" she yelled, wiping her face.  
  
"Well," the cat humphed, lying her head down on her paws and   
facing away from the princess. "Here I bring you something to dry   
your eyes with and you go and yell at me for. The load of thanks I   
get for being polite. I am your advisor, Princess Serenity, not your   
servant."  
  
Serenity mumbled along with her last phrase, having heard it a   
thousand times over. "Fine, so as my 'advisor' what are you doing   
here?"  
  
She picked her head up, ears pricking up as well. "I am advising."  
  
The princess blew her nose and gave the cat an annoyed look.   
"Luna, I do not want nor need your advice at this point in time.   
Thank you greatly, you may be excused now."  
  
Luna rose to all four paws and walked calmly around in front of   
the princess and seated herself again, slowly wrapping her tail   
around her for good measure. "Princess Serenity, I was sent in   
here by your mother, the Queen—"  
  
"I am well aware of who my mother is, Luna."  
  
"—in order to convince you to come to your senses and come out."  
  
"I have no intension of coming out. To what purpose? They will   
only bring me before the councils and ask me very polite questions   
about the 'attempted assassination,' express their 'sincere'   
gratitude that I was not harmed, and exhaustibly thank me for   
coming before them. Yet just after I leave they will rework my   
words so that they can cast a vote to have the Earth blown up!"   
She realized she was yelling right at the poor creature before her   
and settled back on her knees, neatly smoothing the crumpled   
pillow on her lap. "So why should I venture out, dear Advisor?"  
  
Luna seemed very unimpressed by her speech and with head   
lowered she shook it back and forth. "I knew that would be your   
answer, that was why I was not going to mention a thing."  
  
"Well then," she sighed, "run tell my mother that."  
  
"Serenity, this is very important."  
  
The princess was simply not looking at her companion; she did not   
want her to see the tears again forming in her eyes. She could not   
go before them like this, not until she could gain all of her   
composure and face them wholly, with only a smothered anger at   
allowing this to happen. She would not cry before those old men!  
  
"Oh, Serenity." She had not noticed that tears were again trailing   
down her checks yet she was not surprised to find them there, not   
surprised that in truth, she never stopped crying.  
  
Luna padded up and placed her front paws on the pillow in her lap   
so that she could stand taller. Looking down, she was looking into   
her feline guardian's eyes and knew that her friend was trying her   
best to raise her confidence, and her anger, and march her out of   
here.  
  
She closed her eyes tightly as another sob hit. She felt Luna jerk   
back and when she opened her lashes again, her cat was wiping her   
nose with her paw furiously. "Serenity please, you know how   
terrible my fur looks when it gets wet!"  
  
She burst out with a laugh at the same time that another wave of   
tears hit; yet she simply continued to laugh through sobs and sob   
through laughs. She clutched her pillow to herself again and found   
it soggily more appreciative of her tears.  
  
  
"The plan did accomplish its goal."  
  
"That sits as very little comfort to me right now, Mother." The   
thrown room of Earth was empty and dark, the short days of fall   
taking care of that. Yet no one had bothered to light a lamp, for in   
truth the discussion was in no mood for lighting.  
  
"Perhaps, but the people have a greater fear hanging over their   
heads now," Lady Styx commented.  
  
"The Moon has once again become a symbol of oppression and of   
distrust," Kunzite offered. "We have entered the princess herself   
into the public eye but we have lost the battle."  
  
"The opinions of the people have indeed shifted. Princess Serenity   
certainly has a way with those around her." Kallisto was seated   
next to Styx on the dais's steps before the seated king and queen of   
Earth. The generals were scattered about the room in various   
postures. And Endymion stood before a darkening window behind   
them all.  
  
He stared out at the dying gardens as the plants turned inward and   
prepared themselves for the coming of winter. Yet they knew the   
signs. The dropping temperatures, the Northern winds blowing   
colder, the shortening of days. They were warned in advance of   
the loss… why did he not see his signs before?  
  
The deliberations had taken three weeks from his life, yet there   
was no word, no message, no indication that those in supreme   
power would allow their voices to be heard again. Their oracles   
were under strict penalty should they hear or send any message   
outside the blue of Earth.  
  
The silence was deafening; the loneliness claustrophobic. The wait   
was exhausting and he wanted nothing more than to teleport   
straight into the Moon's meeting hall and force them to face him   
directly.  
  
"What shall be done about the prisoners that you captured?" There   
was a silence following the queen's question.  
  
"The panels will likely wish to interview them," Styx commented.  
  
"They will learn no more from them than we have," Kunzite paced   
before the steps, circling as though physically barred.  
  
"That is what I am afraid of," Kallisto commented. "If we have no   
one to show for this tragedy then we have no proof that we did not   
arrange this ourselves."  
  
"What would we gain? What have we gained if this was our   
intention?" the king questioned mildly. "What indeed do the   
councils see as a threat?" He left the question hang before   
answering himself. "An up-rising? An over-throw of power?"  
  
"Just as the old fears were always centered on power and politics,   
so now too the generation falls prey to old thinking once more."   
Endymion opened his eyes to the last traces of light. "This has   
simply become another complicated plot in this long war of   
words."  
  
His father quietly appraised his words, "It is the old that continue   
such ideas, yet it is not the elders with little time remaining that   
take risks for power. For that you must look to the younger, the   
fools taught by master fools."  
  
"Indeed, but that does not help us find the instigator of this,"   
Jadeite added.  
  
"I doubt we shall," the queen commented. All eyes focused on her   
as the room scowled in confusion. Looking up from the hands in   
her lap, she gazed down at Kallisto. "I desperately tried to focus   
on their leader, yet I could hear nothing of his mind, could feel no   
presence there at all. He was a shadow's cape."  
  
Kallisto lowered her eyes in thought, then calmly nodded her head   
as well. "I had not paid it enough attention, but I agree with you   
now. I felt no presence from him."  
  
"Endymion?" the queen called over her shoulder.  
  
"Nor I, Mother," he spoke almost silently.  
  
"Then we are looking for a ghost?" Zoicite questioned.  
  
"Not a ghost, a man," the queen said. "A man that was not   
standing at the lead of his army at the time of the attack."  
  
Jadeite stood from his leaning pillar again, "So what blasted the Ice   
Hall to ice cubes?"  
  
"The same person you saw before you." King Odin rested his   
elbows on the arms of his thrown and folded his hands together.   
"There is a unique power known as bi-location. It allows a person   
to send their essence to another place in space without physically   
being present. Should this person do so, they would be manifested   
in all but solid reality… and their mental processes and spirit   
would remain in the same place their true body was."  
  
"A psychic puppet," came Nephrite's reply.  
  
  
Five weeks. She had not seen or heard from anyone on Earth in   
five weeks. She had heard that a witness or two had been sent for   
and been brought before the councils, yet she had not been allowed   
to know of anything that was in their proceedings.  
  
That was now at an end. Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom   
sat down before the very council that had denied her access to   
those of the planet they circled about. She sat absently before the   
group of elders with her back straight and her hands resting lightly   
in her lap. She was placid and spoke not a word through their   
introduction and statements of gratitude that she was not harmed   
during the unfortunate incident. She was indeed, only there in   
body.  
  
Her mind was elsewhere, somewhere far away from this council   
chamber. Somewhere that the winds were cold and smoke rose   
from chimneys, where trees were skirted with dull colors of rest   
and people scuttled about with coats wrapped round, chopping   
wood… just as they did in the murals and tapestries, that had   
fascinated her through paint on plaster and of the weave of wool.  
  
These were the images floating lazily through her mind's eye as   
she listened to these men comment upon the problem they face.  
  
Serenity had long since wrung the tears from her eyes, wrung them   
even from her soul. She had become only passive and quiet,   
charmed by solitude and flirting with memories. Yet she heard the   
men, she heard everything around her, though she ignored it.  
  
"Princess?"  
  
She rose her eyes to meet them with those of the lead chair of   
elders, ironically filled by the youngest man on the board. "Yes,   
Council Loki?"  
  
"Princess, I realize that this may well be a very difficult subject for   
you, but could you find leave to tell the council of what happened   
that night?" he asked, mock concern centered so deeply into his   
brow. She disliked the man, she always had. He was too pushy   
for her liking, oozing with his own unrighteous power and thought   
little of those beneath himself.  
  
"Why should that night be cause of sorrow?" she asked,   
sidestepping the question for a time.  
  
The man faltered a bit and stuttered for an answer too late.  
  
In her much too clam frame of mind she looked over the group and   
continued with Loki still standing. "I find no difficulty in related   
the events that brought us to this point," she said to them. "Yet, I   
ask you to refrain from asking me much of what has transpired   
since."  
  
"What is it that you mean, Princess?" the second Councilor asked.  
  
She looked down to the hands in her lap before raising her eyes   
once more. "I have difficulty expressing my desire to have this   
ban eliminated with the most haste."  
  
Council Loki finally seated himself again but remained silent as   
the second council again questioned her, "Then you wish the Earth   
to be held accountable for none of this?"  
  
She looked at the man a moment, coming as close to surprise as   
her subdued emotions could claim. "Why should I wish an entire   
planet to suffer a punishment for the actions of a few?"  
  
There was a silence in the room as the group stirred restlessly a   
moment, as though their chairs had shrunk on them.  
  
"Yes, I understand your concern for those not involved, Princess,"   
was Loki's comment. "Yet could you then tell us of the night's   
events?"  
  
"Of course," she said, lowering her eyes to her hands once again as   
she related what she knew of the attack.  
  
"So then, Prince Endymion remained with you during the raid?"  
  
She looked at the nameless member oddly yet answered, "Yes,   
were it not for him and Lady Styx we would both be dead."  
  
"And yet, the Earth's Golden Crystal is very powerful. It is   
interesting to me that the prince should not have been able to   
simply destroy the attackers and protect all of you from this energy   
ball."  
  
"Could the Silver Crystal do that under those circumstances?" she   
questioned them, yet no one was eager to answer her. "No, it   
could not, just as the Golden Crystal of Earth could not be used so   
precisely as to not harm the people around them or my own   
guardians standing before us. Likewise, the power of a planetary   
crystal must be focused through the body of the individual calling   
upon it, therefore Endymion could not concentrate enough energy   
to completely block that attack without harming me by simple way   
of being in contact."  
  
There was a general consensus of nodding within in the ranks and   
she wondered exactly what types of things were being spoken   
within these walls that they were confused on even this matter.   
"And afterward, when the men were captured, what happened   
then?"  
  
She paused a moment, attempting to collect the random images   
branded upon the backs of her eyelids. "The men were locked   
away somewhere, the High Oracle Kallisto teleported them out of   
the room. When the remainder of us gathered together we were all   
greatly shaken and it was Lita, Lady Jupiter, that stayed by my side   
once Prince Endymion had…" she stopped just a noticeable   
moment and quieted herself again, "once he made sure that I was   
unharmed."  
  
"He left you then?" Loki asked, as though he was attempting to   
prove something by it.  
  
"No," she said, silencing the quick whispers. "One of his   
guardians, General Zoicite, had been injured during the battle.   
Knocked back when he attempted to rush the leader. Prince   
Endymion is endowed with the power of healing through direct   
contact, he left me only to tend the wound."  
  
There was a great murmuring throughout the room at this news,   
indeed she had done the same when she saw with her own eyes the   
gash across Zoicite's right shoulder and upper arm close and seal   
over. Yet she had not had time to ask him of the powers that his   
hands truly possessed before she was commanded back to the   
Moon.  
  
"Once we were rejoined with the group of guests he was the first to   
separate himself among the injured." She paused, thinking of the   
aftermath of that battle. "I did not have the chance to speak with   
him again before I was brought back here without even helping   
those with my own healing abilities." She looked slowly down the   
aisle of the men before un-focusing her eyes once more. "That   
was when this shroud fell."  
  
The elders thanked her profusely for speaking with them, and   
Serenity did hope that she had done something to help their   
situation. Yet, she was so numb inside that she could not say if it   
went well or worse. All she knew was that she wished to return to   
her quarters and simply keep herself company. Reaching it she   
positioned herself at the head of her bed once more and watched,   
through the window beside it, as the afternoon wore on, bright and   
sunny.  
  
Eventually she left her bedchamber and was intent to walk out onto   
her balcony, yet realized that what she really wanted to see outside   
was something that would never happen. …She wanted to see   
snow.  
  
She closed her eyes again and remembered the paintings and colors   
centered in the Northern part of the castle. The colors, the feeling.   
She had thought that it would be a lonely season, one filled only   
with cold, no plants to brighten the surroundings. It almost seemed   
depressing to her… yet perhaps that was why she wished so   
desperately to see it now.  
  
Reopening her eyes once again she walked instead to the sitting   
room and to the hearth, which was never used. She thought of the   
cool nights that were already chilled, and of the Ice Hall before its   
destruction. The cool majesty of Winter, and the relief that it   
seemed to bring to those native to that region of the Earth.  
  
Yet she raised her eyes to the centerpiece above the stone,   
supposedly used for warmth, to a bouquet of flowers perched   
unchangingly in a crystal vase. The flowers mixed colors of pink   
and silver, white and gold. An arrangement that represented the   
best of two worlds… the best that could be offered from two rivals   
that had not co-existed well in all of written history. Yet, Serenity   
knew very well that they could indeed flower together, if they were   
held together by a strong enough thread…  
  
The princess raised a hand to brush a petal or two of the magically   
sealed flowers. They would remain, perfectly intact, as long as she   
lived… that she promised. And she promised it well, touching the   
small white ribbon tied fastidiously around the top of the crystal   
enclosing them.  
  
  
The image of a vase, filled over with Lunar roses and golden   
filigree, a side Earthly roses and white orchids, remained stationary   
in a bubble of light. The ghostly apparition floated within a   
darkened room, yet it cast no light, no shadow attached itself to it,   
as though it were one of the dark's own kind. Yet the vision   
stayed stationary as it hovered over the floor.  
  
"Such a pretty bouquet," came a soft comment. "The ribbon was a   
nice touch."  
  
The ball hovered over a bit and an outlined frame immerged from   
the quiet darkness. The apparition of a hand reached out and under   
it as though balancing it a few centimeters above non-existent   
fingers.  
  
The only light in the room came from a window, coverings open to   
reveal pale moonlight reflecting from a heavy dusting of frost over   
every surface without. In the dimness a table sat in the beams of   
the faint light and a chair sat across from it. Though the hour was   
late and the moon would soon enough be overshadowed by the   
sun's entrance, a woman sat perched in the chair, watching the   
blackness.  
  
"Such a heart that could design such a thing," the phantom   
mentioned, the display still centered on the flowers. "The princess   
has become calm now. Her words still enter from her heart, yet   
they pass more readily through her mind first. She is learning…"  
  
The woman at the table closed her eyes from her unseeing stare.  
  
The figure in the darkness snapped close the whispered image of   
her hand and collapsed the ball of light. She glided over to the   
woman and settled herself aside her. Through the lightened   
atmosphere before the window, the figment took on a more solid   
shape and though she seemed to trail the night with her the form   
she took was more defined.  
  
She hovered, as though perched in a chair of her own, legs crossed   
yet covered over with that receding trail of night's all-intrusive   
black gown. One arm was positioned over her abdomen, the other   
elbow resting on it and her chin upon that hand. A perpetually   
shifting shadow was observed, resembling hair that waved in unfelt   
wind, dropping from her head to melt away into the dimness before   
quite reaching the floor.  
  
She sat with her back to the filtered light and instead watched the   
woman, who still sat deafly in her chair, watching the window.   
Though mortal, this second figure appeared much like the light-  
fearing phenomenon floating beside her. The woman was wrapped   
over in a blanket that protected her from the night's cold even   
within the thick stone of the castle. Yet her hair hung past her   
chair to the floor and she gazed out with velvet eyes that nearly   
never blinked.  
  
"Well, Lady Styx," the shadow said. "What are we to do with the   
precious child?" There was no answer forthcoming and the   
figment simply shrugged and continued. "I would hate to see her   
come to harm. After all, I was becoming quite found of her and   
the prince; they turned out much more to my liking than I had   
expected. I find them truly sweet."  
  
Again the other did not seem to perceive that she had heard any   
comment uttered aside her.  
  
"I admit that I had my doubts as to this marriage, I had thought that   
the Queen had lost her conscious, sending her daughter to such an   
arrangement. I suppose that should teach me to stop   
underestimating the depth of their human understanding."  
  
"That is only because you have lost yours."  
  
The figment turned to regard the, once again, silent figure seated   
there in non-existing light. Studyingly, she paused… only to begin   
a soft, knowing laugh.  
  
"And do you remember so much, my friend?" she inquired. "Or   
have you picked it up once again with this assignment?"  
  
The lady closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Can those such as   
us ever claim to have had life?"  
  
There was a sigh of contemplation, turning quickly again to a   
chuckle. "No."  
  
Styx raised her head to again look out of the window, determined   
to her purpose. "The princess is the key, she is the one that must   
meet the needs of the people that she will later govern, and she   
must do it now. There is no time for excessive stalling."  
  
"Indeed." The shadow cocked her head to the side as though   
listening a moment. "The whole of the System holds its breath…   
should it be released in a sigh of defeat there will be more and   
more small fires fanned into life."  
  
"This marriage was suppose to be able to bridge the two worlds,   
unite them, stop them before it was begun…"  
  
"Ah, yes," said the sigh. "Yet, was it not you that said that such a   
thing would not work?" She floated over, behind her sitting   
counterpart and leveled herself closer to her ear. "Or was that a   
personal matter materialised from this 'life' of yours?"  
  
"Was I correct?" the other snipped, glaring through the corner of   
her eye at the only slightly more solid nothingness.  
  
She floated off again to round Styx and come to perch at her other   
side. With a bored sigh she rested her chin on her hand and looked   
again at the other. "I suppose you were, yet that is a two-fold   
problem."  
  
"How do you mean?"  
  
"Well," there was a pitch raise as she seemed to find something   
more interesting to speak about. "It does seem that not only the   
little spectacle that the attack caused is under debate, but the whole   
of this arranged marriage."  
  
A ball of light shimmered into being once more as she stretched a   
phantom hand out to the center of the table before her audience.   
Within its light there sat a row of elders, dressed in the royal white   
of the Moon Kingdom. One stood at the forefront with fist raised   
in a freeze frame captured by this huge pearl. "It seems that not   
everyone particularly cares for this little arrangement."  
  
Styx leaned forward in her seat a bit farther to get a closer look at   
the orb. "Then the two have opposition on every corner."  
  
"Exactly," the other purred, "not only the agreements between the   
planets are to be decided by that council, but the fate of our most   
beloved couple as well."  
  
Once more Styx leaned back in her chair and wrapped the blanket   
tighter around her. "Then it would simply be a matter of holding   
this ban in place long enough that the marriage could be forgotten,   
and easily annulled, and the princess can be shuffled off to anyone   
the council then chooses, continually blaming Queen Selenity for   
the guilt of having rushed the child into her first encounter."  
  
"It would seem so…" she sighed, plucking out a lock of extremely   
long hair and fiddling with it absently.  
  
There was a dull silence in this private womb before Styx raised   
her eyes again and stared straight into those of her ghostly   
companion. "Serenity may be but a child, yet she is powerful   
within the realm that she holds the most control over." The   
shadow listened in interest. "She is true to her emotions… she will   
not let the two things most dear to her be separated."  
  
"Her home and the Earth?"  
  
"Herself and her husband."  
  
There was an intrigued sound that escaped from the figure now   
blending slowly back into the darkness that she seemed a part of.   
"Well then, you are correct indeed, my friend. It is our dear   
princess that must hold the key to lock their life together, just as it   
will be Endymion's task to keep the people of two worlds   
together… This should be an interesting show," she said, her   
voice disappearing with her form fading to black. "…Quite the   
show."  
  
@}---_____________  
"Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the   
wind blows out the candle and fans the bonfire." - Francis Duc de   
la Rochefoucauld  
  
"There are people who want to be everywhere at once, and they get   
nowhere." - Carl Sandburg  
  
  



	9. Chapter 8

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: Never loose your calm, it may well be the only thing between   
you and sanity. Dedicated to the introverts of the world; we are the   
ones to rise up and lead when everyone else has proven that they   
are incapable.  
  
  
Chapter 8  
@}---  
  
  
"We have heard the testimonies of several witnesses present during   
the attempted assassination of Princess Serenity during her time on   
Earth. Yet it has been the decision of this joint council, and the   
wish of Queen Selenity, that you should be brought here before us,   
Prince Endymion. We thank you for coming and are highly   
impassioned to hear you speak on this mater." The High Council   
member Loki finished his introduction and Endymion swallowed   
the dry spot in his throat after seeing the utter contempt held high   
in the man's eyes, directed solely at him.  
  
While the other members appeared a bit more resigned to listen to   
his words, this was truly a hostile situation… and he was ready for   
the challenge. "Thank you, Council Loki, honorable members of   
the Moon Councils. I appreciate you asking me here to speak with   
you." He looked directly to the lead council and bowed   
minusculely, "What is it that you wish to know of me?"  
  
The apparent submissiveness did its job quite well as the other   
puffed up his chest and addressed him a bit more importantly than   
one in his underling position should. The man had no humility,   
which was one thing to note.  
  
"Prince Endymion, we are extremely concerned over the apparent   
lack of respect and out-right hostility shown to the crowned heir to   
the System's thrown. How should such a thing as this be allowed   
to happen?"  
  
"Allowed to happen," he repeated silently to himself. The prince   
had known from the start that this member was out to disrepute   
him, yet it seemed he was doing all he could to make sure that no   
bond could come from these meetings. More than likely he had   
been the prime instigator in the rest of the members' reactions. He   
had made up many of their minds for them.  
  
"Council Loki, I assure you that nothing was 'allowed' to happen   
as far as any of my people were concerned. I truly wish that I   
knew what was the cause of such a grievous act, yet I can find no   
understanding of it myself."  
  
He looked at him studyingly, expectantly. "Then, you and your   
men still have been unable to apprehend the leader responsible for   
over-seeing this event?" There was no mistaking the sarcastic   
reference meant to intimidate him into being viewed as either   
incompetent or hiding something.  
  
It was a ploy that was working. "I am afraid that I can offer you   
no excuses for the fact that we have been unable to apprehend the   
one responsible for this, except to say that we seem to be chasing a   
ghost."  
  
The new information was something that the council was not   
expecting, nor for that matter, were the rest of the assembled   
guests, including Queen Selenity, her daughter and her daughter's   
court, all of whom he was doing his best not to look at during these   
events. "What do you mean by that, Prince Endymion?" came the   
question from a second councilman.  
  
"I mean that during the interviews with all of the men captured   
after the attack, not one of them was able to relate to us what had   
happened during that time. They all claimed an amnesia and   
clouded memories."  
  
There was a stirring and not-so-whispered murmurs over the news   
and the panel was pressing forward in their seats. Endymion   
calmly raised his hand for a moment of silence, sufficiently taking   
the control from his overly-annoyed rival. "I understand how   
disconcerting this seems, and I know that it sounds like a botched   
cover-up. Yet through all of the methods available to us we have   
found nothing to indicate that these men are telling us anything   
false." Indeed, his own powers used to their full extent could not   
unlock the memories, or lack there of, of the attackers.  
  
"And you believe that they were coerced into these actions by   
someone else?" The speaker of the panel did not like being up-  
staged, yet he was holding his temper… barely.  
  
Endymion blinked, a bit surprised to find the councilor come   
readily to that conclusion. "At this point we are exploring all   
options available to us. Yet I know these words must be hard for   
the Council to come to terms with and I invite you to take me at   
my word and explore any means to justify for yourselves that this   
is the truth."  
  
The level of confidence did not raise much higher yet it did   
decrease the mumblings. Though as the words fell out into place a   
member of the audience, set before the Council's table, rose to   
height and Endymion looked down curiously from his place to the   
side of the assembly, opposite the High Council Speaker.  
  
Queen Selenity stood from her place in the center of the assembled   
courts and addressed the table before her. "I also have news on   
this matter that should be placed before the Council," she stated.   
"I have been in contact with Queen Juno of Jupiter for some time   
now, as she has been very concerned over these proceedings. As   
some of us know, the queen has unique powers to sense the energy   
of other life forms. Though mostly unusable and hardly debatable   
she has the gift to sense the characteristics that make up a person.   
It was these powers that caused her the greatest amount of concern   
after the incident."  
  
The room stirred quietly, "Why did you not bring us this sort of   
information before, my Queen?" Once again Loki found himself   
surprised and clearly taken off guard by this turn of events.  
  
"We found it best to restrict this knowledge until after you had   
spoken with a representative of Earth and knew for sure that her   
suspicions were true."  
  
"May I ask what it was that the Queen felt?" Endymion asked,   
knowing exactly what she would say and wanting to have control   
of the discussion once it was out.  
  
The queen looked to him directly and nodded, understanding his   
desire to steal the spotlight for a time. "She believed that during   
the assault she could feel only one presence from the attacking   
men. She told me that she was sure that the one central figure was   
somehow controlling the others in a way that she did not know   
how to do."  
  
Endymion nodded at the comment and once the talk had quieted he   
added onto what she was saying. "The men were not acting on   
their own accord. Yet there was something else that the members   
of my court noted during the attack." He looked back to the elders,   
"Many of you know the Earth's High Oracle, Kallisto. She has   
been praised well throughout the System as being very powerful in   
her art. Yet while in the room with us she, as well as myself and   
my Queen Mother, noted that she could feel no true presence from   
the central figure either… as though he was not physically in the   
room."  
  
Queen Selenity nodded once more, "That was also how Queen   
Juno found it to be."  
  
The cards were out of the table with much more emphasis behind   
them than he had hoped. With the added perspective of a third   
party to all of this there could be much less doubt of his sincerity.  
  
"But what does this mean?" asked one of the elders.  
  
Endymion saw the High Queen seat herself once again next to her   
daughter who was holding her hand tightly, he noted, and the   
prince once again turned his full attention to gaining the trust of   
these men. "It means that whoever this leader was, he is a man   
that has the power to trans-locate himself to anywhere he desires.   
Mentally he can be anywhere, thoughts and powers included   
apparently. Also in this way, he can manipulate enough of his   
thoughts into others around him that he can control their   
impulses."  
  
"And these other men, the ones that attacked you, were under his   
control?"  
  
"As far as we can understand, yes."  
  
The audience was startled and there was a great amount of   
disruption as the news began to sink in. The elders were also   
debating among themselves, yet Endymion let them and kept a   
non-committal eye on the High Chair. The man was not speaking,   
yet chewing thoughtfully, and menacingly on what had been said.   
Once the din quieted he again spoke, "This seems rather   
unfortunate for us then. How is it that we should be able to locate   
this person who can be anywhere?" The question held every trip   
line possible, and he was trying desperately to make it seem that   
the Earth should be left to rot where it was for not catching this   
villain.  
  
Yet it was the line that the prince had planned on coming. He   
straightened himself and looked directly at his most vocal   
opponent. "With all due respect gentlemen, we apprehend this   
person by removing this ban."  
  
The audience silently roared again, yet not a person on the board in   
front of him said a word. It was only Loki who decided to smile   
through gritted teeth, "And do you suppose to tell us that we   
should open the Earth so that this villain may escape to some other   
world?"  
  
Endymion lowered his head in a thoughtful manor, confident in his   
message, "I am saying that in order to hunt for someone that can be   
anywhere, we must look for him everywhere."  
  
Loki rose to his feet once more and leaned his hands upon the table   
before him, glaring at the prince. "Do you mean to tell us that this   
henchmen is not on Earth?"  
  
Endymion knew the man's temper was gone, a bit more pressure   
and he would discredit himself. "I do not know where he is, be it   
on the Earth or in the center of the galaxy, but I do know that   
confining us there will only hinder the all out search that is   
desperately needed." The calm in his voice matched the   
confidence in his words and he could see the contemplation on the   
faces of those in front of him.  
  
All except one. "Preposterous! Earth has had her anti-Moon   
views open for publicity for decades, should we believe that   
someone else would want to damage the seat of power in such a   
way?"  
  
The un-intimidated prince waited just long enough for every eye in   
the room to focus on his debater before beginning his answer.  
  
Only to be cut off by a steady, yet emotional voice risen from the   
audience behind them. "Has the battle always been so one sided,   
Council Loki?" He turned to see Serenity standing from her seat,   
her mother's hand still in her own, yet she stood on without fear or   
anger… but with silent tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes.  
  
"The unfounded rumors and speculations that have given rise to so   
much distrust and anger were started so long ago that our two   
worlds have never known true peace. Through the rule of the   
Moon, an order has been formed throughout this System, yet we   
can not openly relate with our closest neighbor. So much has our   
fears torn at us that even now we do not wish to see a difference   
taking shape."  
  
The young girl looked over at Endymion, possibly for guidance,   
possibly for support, yet he only gazed back at her, unsure where   
all of this strength had come from. She continued, "Our marriage   
was founded in order to do away with this old order of fear and   
resentment. To begin a new chapter in which we could truly co-  
exist…" Serenity lost her gaze from his eyes as she looked back to   
Loki. "I believe that this ban is the direct result of those old   
theories. This debate itself is only set on such high priority   
because of the prejudice encircling this orbit."  
  
There was a commotion as the small crowd resounded their   
muttered responses, and for the first time Serenity seemed to notice   
where she was. Unsure of herself she looked first to her mother   
and then to Endymion still looking back at her. He smiled, just bit   
at her, and she sunk slowly to her seat again worriedly. Once more   
he turned on Loki bent on finishing his wife's speech. "I agree   
with the princess, I know the differences that our people have had   
in the past, yet I beseech you to think over what this means to our   
future. As one System working in peace, may we be able to end   
this debate and bring those responsible to justice. Small battles   
between us will resolve nothing."  
  
The room resounded as Loki sunk back into his chair foaming and   
the rest of the council sat back to deliberate.  
  
Endymion knew this first battle was his. Or rather, he looked back   
to Serenity's seat as she watched him just as intently, the battle   
was theirs.  
  
  
"Impudent, miserable child!"  
  
High Council Loki was not a man that handled rejection and   
upheaval well. He was a man that held a strong arm to every   
affliction and despised the weak and their mindless followings.   
They were sheep, they never thought for themselves and they   
could never harbor and opinion of their own. Those were the ones   
that relied upon others to do their thinking for them, to make their   
decisions, to decide what they thought and how they would act…  
  
They were people just like his own princess.  
  
"Insufferable brat, standing up against her own council like that!   
Has she been so brain-washed by her barbaric husband that she   
dares defy her own?" The man walked through his quarters raving.   
He picked up the book that he had been reading each night and   
carried it along as something to fling to and fro as he stomped   
around the dimming room. "She has never had a brain of her own   
in all her years! Never once has she ceased to be the whining,   
spoiled little clone of her mother's creation, until she claims   
importance as the wife of some retched Earthling!"  
  
Loki paced around his sitting room. His flowing white robes flared   
out with the rush of air he was creating by the speed of his, slightly   
aged and tilled, steps. The knotted knuckles were white and either   
clamped tightly to the thick book or knocking against it as he beat   
his left fist upon its cover. His gray eyes shown and flashed as he   
muttered comments both above and below his breath.  
  
"I expected the prince to have such disrespectful words in him, yet   
to have the princess blindly follow his lead and speak against   
me…" The outrage was prevalent and he rounded in his steps to   
face the window through which the last rays of the sunset were   
being seen. The orange glow of the sun had been encroached upon   
by the Earth's huge sphere and swallowed whole.  
  
He looked without to the gardens and the surroundings of the   
Moon Palace. "The sheltered little brat is completely incapable of   
leading anything let alone an entire System! That is exactly why   
the queen married her off so soon and so suddenly. They can say   
all the pretty words they like about how this should end the   
bickering, yet it was only a ploy to set at least one person on the   
thrown that could lead a planet!"  
  
He chuckled to himself humorlessly. "Oh but could they not find a   
suitable match for her? No, they decided upon an Earthling! Oh   
yes, the prince is high and mighty all right," he spat. "He has a   
brain in his head worthy of much more than Serenity's, for what   
good that is." He spun away from the window again and continued   
his thoughtless pacing.  
  
"Yet, he was apparently not brainy enough to refuse vows to that   
little royal twit!" He swatted at the back of his sitting couch with   
the book before throwing it full force onto its cushions. "Who else   
would they chain into marrying her!" He laughed again at his own   
joke and stomped back to the window.  
  
"Did they not realize that by imploring such a face-saving act as   
placing her with someone half capable of rule that they were only   
turning control of their own fates over to that one? Could they not   
have found someone more suitable of the control of the System?"   
He frowned in contempt at the window he was facing. "We have   
released our trust to an idiot of a backwards planet controlled by   
the power of poverty and 'natural selection'."  
  
He walked still forward and placed, a now much more calm hand,   
against the glass of the window. "Were they not aware that the   
choice should have been made by a council that could see where   
the future of the Moon should lie? We could have chosen a much   
more reasonable ruler to 'accompany' our fair princess, ensuring   
that the royal rule of the Moon continued in the order to which it   
has always been."  
  
He stood still and let the powerful flow of his controlling voice   
filter through the empty rooms of his all too quiet quarters.   
"Something must still be done…" came his ultimately calm,   
deathly quiet voice.  
  
And from the deepest corner of his room the artificial shadow   
chuckled softly and slowly blended back out of existence.  
  
  
"Are you sure you are comfortable? Can I get you anything?"   
Serenity fussed about nervously as she rushed this way and that.  
  
"Serenity," Endymion caught her hands and held them firmly not   
to let her go. "What are you fretting about?"  
  
She just looked at him, wide eyed and confused. "I… Am I?"  
  
He chuckled at her and nodded. "You are also shaking."  
  
She looked down at her hands, wrapped in his, and sighed softly as   
he pulled her down to sit on the couch beside him. They had   
finally gotten a moment to themselves as they made their escape to   
her quarters. The councils were still in deliberation but under the   
watchful eye of Queen Selenity, as she would not excuse herself   
from their discussions any longer.  
  
His young bride seemed rather taken aback after her little speech   
and she had not been quite herself from that point on. Once they   
were both released she had hopped into his arms for a quick hug   
even with the elders still in their places. Yet he could not mind in   
the least, he was more than happy to have her back by his side. He   
had never known just how much a part of him she had become   
until she was suddenly taken from him.  
  
Yet she sat now beside him as though lost for some reason he   
could not understand. "Serenity, what is it that troubles you?" he   
asked pulling on her hands to make her turn towards him a bit   
more.  
  
She looked up as he saw tears forming within her eyes and her   
bottom lip trembled slightly. Endymion did not have the time to   
become too surprised by her condition before she flung herself into   
his arms and proceeded to start sobbing. He could not say for sure   
whether this was from joy of their reunion or disappointment of it.  
  
Although fairly sure of the former he resigned himself to simply   
soaking up tears and holding her closely. He smiled in spite of the   
situation; unbelievably thankful that the child he called a wife was   
again wrapped inside his arms.  
  
Wrapped inside his arms Serenity found herself feeling all of the   
emotions that she seemed to have locked away over a month ago;   
things that she could no longer feel on penalty of drowning herself.   
She only wanted desperately to stay right where she was for as   
long as real life would allow.  
  
Yet she could never say why she was crying other than that she   
was simply so overwhelmed by the return of feeling that she could   
do nothing else. She felt Endymion place his chin in her hair and   
pull her a little tighter. She was so blessed to have him beside   
her…  
  
"Serenity?" he asked softly, trying to pick her chin up with one   
hand. She responded groggily, realizing that her tears had found   
their leave by the same mystical door that they entered from.  
  
"I am sorry," she mumbled, wiping at the remains of dew left on   
her lashes.  
  
"No need to be," he said, nuzzling his forehead against hers. "Are   
you all right, though?"  
  
She smiled at his affection and nodded against him, "Quite all right   
now."  
  
"Good." He moved back from her a bit and looked at her more   
closely. "Now will you tell me what got into you in that hall?"  
  
She looked up at him and blushed a bit at the spectacle she had   
created on standing up against her high councilor like so. "I am   
sorry, I do not actually know what I was thinking." She lowered   
her head a bit and mumbled, "I must have truly cracked."  
  
He chuckled merrily beside her and she looked up to find him still   
smiling at her. "If that was cracked remind me not to have you   
repaired."  
  
She was rather confused at his words. "I went against my councils,   
that is normally never condoned."  
  
"Even Councilors can be wrong, Princess. I understand why you   
feel that you did them a dishonor, yet you reminded them of   
themselves. Every human needs someone to remind them once in   
a while that they are only human."  
  
She thought it over a minute and nodded slowly. "Then I did the   
right thing."  
  
"Of course, Princess," he said tipping her chin up again. "You   
brought up the heart of the conflict that all others were toeing   
around. You saw through what was said and what was not. That is   
a true gift, especially when dealing with those that fall into group-  
think too readily."  
  
"I see," she said, finally smiling. "As long as I do not make a habit   
from this, I think the Elders shall forgive this ingrate of a royal   
family member."  
  
"Well you certainly surprised me with it," he commented   
skeptically. "I am not sure that I enjoy the idea of having a bride   
with a backbone."  
  
She laughed evilly and wrapped him back up in a hug. "Your   
influence."  
  
"How did I cause this?"  
  
She smiled, snuggling closer. "You have become my strength… as   
much strength as I have anyway. Your example has been on my   
mind since we have been cut off from each other. I have tried to   
follow what I know, and what I have learned from you."  
  
"You have strength of your own, Serenity. No mater how much I   
would like to take credit for it," he said chuckling lightly.  
  
"Maybe, but I have needed to learn from you. You have so much   
more confidence than I. It is simply that…" she trailed out,   
looking for the words. "I feel safer with you near. I feel that I can   
trust myself more with you to back me up." She smiled a bit, "I   
guess I am becoming too use to your protection."  
  
"You will always have it, and you will always have my support,"   
he said softly into her hair. "Confidence will come, you only need   
time."  
  
"I hope so. With all of this going on, it appears I will need to come   
by it quickly."  
  
She could feel him caress her hair and she also felt the mood shift   
before she looked up to see it on his face. "I never had the chance   
to make sure that you were truly all right after the attack,   
Serenity."  
  
She nodded and laid her head against his chest once more. "I   
know; I was spirited away so quickly."  
  
"I am sorry that it had to happen," he whispered.  
  
Serenity closed her eyes and just snuggled closer for a moment. "I   
know. In all the time that I have had to think on it I can only say   
that I wish I could have been some help to you." Endymion made   
a confused sound and she continued with her thoughts. "If I could   
control the power of the Silver Crystal more evenly, then I could   
have done something. As it was I could do nothing, I was   
petrified, Endymion," she let her voice trail off.  
  
"That is not entirely true," he said in that explanatory tone of voice   
that she had come to know rather well. "Even if you could control   
it as assuredly as your guardians control theirs you may have very   
well done the same thing."  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"Because you are not a warrior."  
  
She thought on that a moment. Of course she was not a warrior, or   
a soldier, or a fighter of any type. She would never be. Yet why   
should that make a difference in a situation like that?  
  
"You have never been trained to use your powers in such a way,   
for defense or for offence. The road to becoming able to see a   
threat and take the steps to eliminate it does not come easily or   
readily to someone that has not trained for it. It takes time and a   
lot of errors and over-comings in order to grasp a true   
understanding of battle. That is time that you did not have."  
  
"Yet I feel so helpless should something like that happen again.   
How am I to fight, if need be, in order to save my friends… my   
loved ones?" she asked looking up to him.  
  
There was a softness in his eyes that said that he did not miss the   
reference, yet he continued. "With your heart, Serenity, you would   
find a way if the need did raise itself. And over time, I know that   
heart would lead you to become as great of a warrior as you should   
ever need be." He smiled, "Though I hope you will never be in   
need of such things."  
  
She smiled back, her eyes clouding once again. "I hope none of us   
need to."  
  
He nodded, trying to wipe the tears away before they found their   
way down her checks. She rolled her eyes in response and wiped   
at them too, wanting the dreadful things to cease once and for all.   
Endymion tilted her face back upwards, stopping her efforts and   
instead brushed them away with a light caress of his figures. She   
smiled thankfully and he caught her eyes again as he looked at her.  
  
She turned away again, blushing slightly at the affection. She felt   
him lean closer and was terribly surprised to feel him place a   
lingering kiss on her forehead. Shocked she allowed herself to be   
pulled closer and only heard him whisper words into her hair. "I   
am only so thankful that you were unharmed."  
  
Serenity found no words to reply to him and only closed her eyes,   
wrapping her arms more strongly around him as well; never   
wishing to be released from such a warm feeling…  
  
  
The Moon's perfect weather was actually a wonderful release from   
the winter taking over Endymion's home city on Earth. The   
gardens were flourishing and he wondered around the roses and   
flowers as he passed time. Having Serenity back home the Queen   
had instituted her studies again, much to the princess' dismay. She   
was never the most studious of pupils, yet she was forced rather   
harshly by her state in life.  
  
Yet it gave him time alone, to think and to plan; and of course to   
meet with the still suspicious councils over the matter of finding   
their most wanted villain. Nothing could be linked to anyone   
anywhere though and it seemed as though it would be impossible   
for them to discover who had instituted the plot. Endymion   
worried that the only way to find him was if he found them again.  
  
Thinking in this way, he had ordered his generals to join him on   
the Moon, and Lady Styx had offered her services to him as well.   
With both courts well assembled he still did not feel secure of the   
princess' safety. How could a husband?  
  
He heard a slight rustle of fabric and turned to catch only the   
retreating image of Styx's hair trailing the shadows of her wake in   
one of the crossways. He had not noticed her approach, nor did he   
understand why she did not stop had she noted him. Curious he   
walked towards the T intersection of the bushes. Lady Styx had   
not seemed herself of late. She was continually more quite and   
their normally frequent conversations had been omitted or cut   
short.  
  
True there was much on all of their minds, yet he wondered if   
something more was troubling her. He met the intersection and   
turned to the way she had been walking only to find it leading to a   
long row with no one in it. He walking down a ways to the first   
juncture and looked in, still discovering nothing. For the most part   
the gardens were unmanned; so large an area that they occupied,   
one could walk about for hours in the maze and never see another   
soul.  
  
Yet he was sure that he had seen her… Endymion sighed and gave   
up the fruitless search, looking up he saw the huge orb of the Earth   
looming powerfully at the horizon. It was dark this evening,   
displaying none of its bright colors or features. This night it would   
be a full moon on Earth, yet from the opposite perspective in was a   
new earth. It was dark, yet the light of the sun skirted around its   
frame to brighten the Moon's face. Though now, due to the   
artificial spin that had been instituted to its orbit, they were now   
headed for a calm, starlit night sky as the two giants turned in for   
their rest as well.  
  
He gave one more look to the surrounding area of dimming colors   
for Styx, yet found nothing but deepening shadows that seemed to   
be reaching for him…  
  
So wrapped in his thoughts he almost did not hear the voice that   
spoke up from behind him as he was staring fully at one of the   
silver roses in front of him. He turned around at the sound of his   
name, yet found no one near him.  
  
Such was the case when he again heard his title called, "Prince   
Endymion, I am down here."  
  
The prince looked in the direction of the voice again and settled his   
eyes on those of two blue orbs mounted inside the head of a black   
cat perched on one of the stone sitting benches. She bowed in the   
most feline of ways and looked back up at him with eyes that   
seemed so very human…  
  
"Forgive me for interrupting you, Prince. I was sent by Princess   
Serenity to ask you if you would join her in the garden's   
selenium."  
  
Endymion stared down at the talking cat for a moment after she   
had finished speaking before finally tearing his gaze away and   
rubbing the center of his forehead. "Forgive me, but if you are a   
figment of an over-worked mind then you will have disappeared by   
the time I open my eyes." He reopened them to see her still sitting   
where she was and blinking curiously at him. "I suppose not   
then," he mumbled to her.  
  
The cat bowed again and did not rise as she began to explain. "I   
am sorry, Prince Endymion. I had thought that the princess would   
have told you of us." She looked back up and then sat down on her   
back legs, taking on a peculiar facade of lecturing. "My name is   
Luna, and I am an advisor to Princess Serenity. Forgive me for   
startling you, I had thought that my charge would have told you   
that on the Moon many such as myself exist."  
  
"Such as you?" he questioned, noting for the first time in the   
deepening light the golden crescent gracing her forehead.  
  
"Yes, I am feline, though I am also human. I have the qualities of   
both you might say. Due to the Silver Crystal's power sometimes   
such crosses are made for no truly understood reason."  
  
"So you were not particularly suppose to be this way?" he   
questioned taking a step or two closer.  
  
"By some ordination I was," she said slowly.  
  
"Of course, forgive me. I had no idea of such things. Although to   
her credit, Serenity did tell me of you. She only seems to have left   
out the fact that you resemble a cat," he mumbled. She had told   
him of her all right, she had told him of her lead school instructor   
that tutored her. She had also mentioned the fact that she thought   
of her as a slave driver if not one of her best friends.  
  
"I see," the cat sighed. "The princess does neglect to mention   
things quite often when she attempts to explain herself."  
  
"She is easily excitable, that should be quite normal for a youth   
like her," he said in defense. This one seemed very noble, and also   
very proper, it was no wonder that they should conflict on a great   
deal of things.  
  
"I do say that you are right," she sighed again. "Yet she is waiting   
for you at the Selenium."  
  
He nodded before thinking and had to correct himself. "I am sorry,   
I do not seem to know much of anything tonight. What is a   
Selenium?"  
  
The cat rose to her feet, all four of them, again and hopped off the   
bench. "Come, I will show you." She led away and Endymion   
followed… a cat.  
  
"The Selenium gets its name for the material it is made from,   
selenium, which can only be refined in low gravity here on the   
Moon. It was named for the place that it was naturally cultivated.   
Here many things are made from it, a non-metal, it would be   
something like lead."  
  
"I see, so this is a building created from it?"  
  
"More of a gazebo of types, it serves as an observation outlet for   
anyone…"  
  
Endymion stopped listening to her as the hair on the back of his   
neck prickled upright as a dull twist of something in his mind   
halted his steps dead. Something somewhere was wrong and he   
was almost certain that Serenity was at the end of it. His hand   
reflectively dropped to his sword belt at the thought and snapped   
back to attention. "Get me there quickly!" he commanded of the   
feline that was staring up at him wide-eyed.  
  
She did not hesitate but dashed off in the way they were going and   
he followed as closely as he could to the sprinting cat. Mentally he   
screamed for his generals, which he did not know could hear,   
being that they were not on the Earth whose power they used to   
communicate with so well. Not taking his eyes from the path he   
silently prayed for his home, that seemed too far away now, to lend   
its strength to him.  
  
The bushes blurred into the maze of green and he noticed nothing,   
concentrating so hard on the throb pounding harder at the back of   
his head as he drew closer. Luna pounced through the pathways   
and managed to remain ahead of him, more sure was she of the   
gravity. The prince had already noted that if it came to a physical   
battle he would be levering a serious disadvantage.  
  
But the emotional drive pounded at his heart and he soon found   
that he had lost his feline companion as he had sprinted over a row   
or two of the climbing roses. He no longer needed a guild… nor   
did he need conformation that it was Serenity he was tracking   
down on.  
  
A circular mass of shining metal rose in an inlet of the sea of   
garden green nestled close to a splashing fountain. And what   
would have been a beautiful exhibit of usable art was now the sight   
of unnatural flickers of orange lightning. The whole scene seemed   
much too familiar and Endymion hurtled the last row of obstacles   
and never had time to draw his sword.  
  
  
@}---_____________  
"If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking." -   
George S. Patton, Jr.  
  
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." - Isaac Asimov  
  
"Tact: Ability to tell a man he's open-minded when he has a hole in   
his head." - Jean Cocteau  
  



	10. Chapter 9

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: Dedicated to those who work to protect the innocent, and a   
prayer for those battling again prejudice and injustice. We are all   
the same inside, only some of us choose to revoke our own   
creaturely status and attempt to rise ourselves to more… since   
Adam and Eve it has never worked.  
  
  
Chapter 9  
@}---  
  
  
Serenity sat peacefully in the deepening shadows of evening   
twilight. The Earth was dark tonight, but it remained mysterious   
and omnipresent on the horizon. The ruffle of the day had nearly   
been forgotten, and her studies were put aside for the evening.  
  
She leaned back in her seat and looked up through the open   
framework of the Selenium to the few bright stars that could   
already be seen. The orange of the sun through the atmosphere of   
the Earth cast a glow on the gardens surrounding them. Even the   
fountain next to her felt the effect of the coming night; its waters   
seemed hushed as they flowed in rivets of little orange flames.   
The wind was circling lightly as it seemed to be unable to decide   
upon just one direction that it would haunt this night.  
  
Yet without warning it switched its attack and roared harshly right   
through the fountain, sending sparks of water like shrapnel towards   
her. Serenity was so surprised by the sudden upheaval she allowed   
herself to be carried off the bench that she was sitting on and   
tossed to the rock of the floor. The wavering light of orange burst   
into a ball of energy between the Selenium and the fountain   
sending shockwaves through the area and causing her to slide back   
even farther.  
  
The princess found herself leaning up on one elbow, which was   
perched on the first step of the metal shelter. The light intensified   
and again she was forced back, screaming in surprise as she was   
tossed down the two steps onto the rock pathway opposite her   
unseen attacker.  
  
She coughed as she rose to her hands and knees undignified and   
terror stricken. She whipped around to the orange ball of crackling   
static; eyes blinded by the light and her own tears.  
  
"Such a pitiful child," it mumbled almost inaudibly over the din of   
the rush in her ears. "What do you think you could ever lead?" it   
spat as the intensity rose again.  
  
The flash was her only warning as the pure force of fury reached   
out and wrapped itself around the surrounding area. The metal of   
the Selenium was the first to feel the wrath and it screeched as the   
metal gave way as more and more static energy was poured into it.   
The whole frame of the round observation shelter was being ripped   
and forced from its stone foundation. And it was aimed straight   
for her prostrate form…  
  
  
The dull knife twisted full turn as Endymion rounded his last   
obstacle and headed full tilt for his fallen bride. She was wide-  
eyed and panicked, attempting to get to her feet as the power-lit   
figure screamed with the exertion of forcing his powers to rip the   
mammoth frame from its foundations and hurtle it into the fragile   
princess.  
  
Serenity made it halfway to her feet before he rounded the circular   
bulk of the gazebo and snatched her into his arms as the scream of   
metal shrieked and died in a chain of increasingly fast staccatos.   
Catching her in a glancing blow he carried her several steps before   
his footing was tangled in her skirts and they were both driven to   
the ground.  
  
He wrapped her securely in his arms and managed to take the brunt   
of the fall on his armor, rolling as far as possible out of the falling   
monument's way. The aftershocks threw them several more feet   
and into the sidelining shrubberies. The momentary daze was   
enough to slow Endymion's reaction time and he left Serenity's   
form close to the protective bushes as he staggered to his feet,   
assessing his barring.  
  
The huge artwork was now strung in a tangled mess of metal   
limbs. Its last 'legs' still attacked to its holdings, farthest from the   
figure still wrapped in a crackle of orange energy. For the most   
part the thing inside of it stood steady, but Endymion drew his   
sword, knowing that it was next to worthless.  
  
The figure slowly turned to the side that they now stood at and the   
orange of the energy seemed to collapse itself until it was   
completely centered in the black figure's eyes…  
  
  
The clatter was all the more defining seeing as it was completely   
unexpected.  
  
The waning evening had been a wonderful time for the guardians   
of the moon to repay the favor of Earth's resplendent generals for   
their earlier pilgrimage to the planet. With time during the   
princess' studies the four guardians had escorted the four generals,   
Lady Styx and Prince Endymion, about the Royal Palace's   
grounds. Since, the prince had gone to wait Serenity's release,   
Styx had vanished without much of a word, and the dwindled   
group of eight had requested their evening meal a bit early.  
  
There was not that much formality between the two guardian   
forces, yet common courtesy would not have excused the four   
earthling's abrupt disposal of conversation and their dinnerware.   
The girls did not even have the time to ask what was wrong before   
the men were to their feet and the quickest was sprinting for the   
door.  
  
Kunzite, to his credit, tapped Mina on the shoulder, nearly taking   
her from her chair, and threw over his shoulder, "The prince has   
called us!"  
  
  
In the dim, faded light, the darkness seemed to ever envelop the   
figure before him. Black robes and an air of sunken mortality   
reigned, and Endymion was forced to look directly into the blaze   
orange glow of two eyes. There was no other feature that existed   
on the man, nothing but the concentration of power so focused and   
centered.  
  
And looking into those eyes, Endymion knew there was next to   
nothing he could do.  
  
The figure appeared to gather an amount of dignity to himself and   
the darkness around him once again was lit by the static crackle of   
energy as he brought one hand up on front of him.  
  
The prince was in a terribly desperate situation; he was forced into   
a corner with Serenity behind and their only protection coming   
from his own powers, never before tested off his home planet.  
  
He felt her stir behind him but could do nothing at the moment. If   
he could only remove her from harm's way…  
  
The figure stretched his hand to full extent, power pulsing   
repeatedly faster. Endymion concentrated, praying for enough   
help from his guardian hanging low and black in the sky, to block   
this threat. A golden glow gathered itself around him and he   
clenched a ball into his left fist…  
  
He never noticed the approach of the fourth individual until his   
opponent snapped back with a howl of pain, his energy dispersing   
like lightning above his head as he flung his arms around in   
thrashing motions.  
  
  
The ball of light illumined only a small part of the vast, unconfined   
yet enclosed area. Its surface at once reflected and absorbed the   
images that played out across it. The vision turned and then   
stopped as all light ceased to show from the sphere; its only   
replacement being that of two glowing orange eyes.  
  
"It seems our time has come."  
  
  
Serenity was battered and feeling broken, but she did not have the   
time or the consciousness to dwell on it. She had no idea of what   
was happening, but the yell of pain was the first to awaken her to   
the realization that she was not in the best of positions.  
  
She looked up to see Endymion spin towards her out of a crotched   
position and grab her arm to toss her to her feet. She was barely   
able to recognize his words through the throb of her heart in her   
ears as he yelled at her to run.  
  
The princess never questioned and simply let herself be guided by   
his strong hand wrapped around her upper arm, forcing her on in   
front of him as they both sprinted back towards the cross sections   
of the garden-maze.  
  
Something flew past them as they ducked and landed very hard   
against the bush covered rock wall divider ahead of them but it was   
not until Serenity recognized more than saw the lump that now lay   
sideways of their path. A distant shriek was heard just behind her   
mind as she became aware of what had been flung by them.  
  
"Luna!" she screamed, tearing away from Endymion's grasp and   
reaching for the black lump, half tangled within the rose bushes,   
without heed of what her actions would cause. She dropped to her   
knees and enfolded her feline teacher in her arms; shock already   
well set in.  
  
There was no time for her to collect herself as she was once again   
hauled bodily to her feet, Luna still in arm, and pushed forward   
into the maze. "Run!" came the only reply to her scream of terror   
at what had happened to her friend.  
  
Yet again she ran with all her might, unable to do anything else.   
She had no direction but dodged around the first bend in the rows   
of dismal green. Suddenly the landscape lit to life and she was   
thrown physically off her feet and hit a lining hedge, slumping to   
her knees and cascading onto her side, head hitting the stone of the   
walkway before she ever realized she was off her feet.  
  
  
Endymion stood to his feet again, and tried once more to raise   
Serenity, yet stopped, noting that she was unmovable. Deathly   
afraid he stared at her a moment, still cradling the lifeless form of   
her feline friend who had fearlessly jumped unto the back of their   
attacker to try to forestall his efforts. Serenity…  
  
He stood shocked, yet the thunder of another orange flash rocketed   
past him, sending his mind toward the goal of the moment. She   
would live; she would have to live… He prayed she would live.  
  
But the only assurance of that was to make certain that this menace   
was dealt with before he could find and harm her farther. Without   
thought he ran down the aisle of plants the way they were going   
before and at the intersection to the next branch, jumped instead   
over the hedge stone and landed a row away from the clearing   
where the Selenium once stood.  
  
The marauder was staggering in the direction that they had fled   
and Endymion leaped to the top of the last wall separating them as   
the other was about to enter the labyrinth. Coming from this   
direction he had the upper hand and he was determined to take it.  
  
Yet, before he was able to gather enough energy to himself a flash   
of white, almost nova-like, light lit up the area where he had left   
Serenity, and he was shocked to see from his vantage point, her   
body rise and turn over in mid air, still lying prone and unmoving,   
Luna's limp body sliding to the ground. The light gave way to a   
shape and revealed the youth's body in the arms of a woman. And   
a woman that he was fearfully unable to place.  
  
Shrouded in black and with floating black hair, this entity did not   
seem whole or even real. Yet she rose, not only Serenity's body,   
but also her own as she floated a half-meter off the ground, trailing   
the shadows with her.  
  
He was stunned but involuntarily moved into action at this new aid   
to the enemy. He leapt from the wall he was perched on to the   
next with only semi-success. The bushes, growing up past this   
lining wall caught at his boots and brought him down inside the   
face of it and away from his bride. Roses and branches snapped at   
him as he finished his fall and heard something not so discretely   
snap once he hit stone.  
  
The blinding pain burst inside his left arm, yet it did not prevent   
him from seeing the buttered light of the figment that had swept up   
his child-wife brighten in a flash and was gone. He stomped to his   
feet and groaned in agony, most of it non-physical, as his body   
slumped back to its knees again.  
  
  
The bright flare of light was a desperate beacon in the blinding   
night. The guardians of the Earth Prince, stumbled in their flight   
through the Palace walls and outer balconies, threading their way   
towards the gardens that they knew housed their liege and   
whatever danger that he was facing. Behind them sprinted the four   
girls associated with the protection of the Moon's new court.  
  
Yet there could be no mistaking where the action was transpiring   
as they ran, jumped and dodged their way through the foliage of   
unsuspecting plants, trampling as many as possible in their path.  
  
A new light of cream overcame the flashes and lightning nightmare   
of the orange pulses that had suddenly stopped. The four generals   
spread themselves out in the last of their run and meant to encircle   
the scene. Kunzite ran full tilt and scrambled up the bush-  
shrouded wall and launched himself over it and into the middle of   
the fray, rolling as he hit the ground to rebound back to his feet on   
the opposite side of the pathway.  
  
What he saw was enough to make him stop shorter than he had   
intended as the image of a woman as Night herself blinked out of   
existence with Serenity in her arms as the light that had   
surrounded, and somehow given her structure, came unstrung from   
the black frame… and they vanished.  
  
  
Lady Jupiter bounded out of the courtyard area into the beginning   
of the rose rows and stopped in her tracks as Nephrite had stopped   
only a few meters in front of her. She had followed him as the four   
had split themselves off and was now grateful that she had.  
  
The bright light that had guided them here shot outward in all   
directions, wordlessly going back to where it had come from and   
they were left again in the dark. Yet standing there, just before the   
entrance to the first rows was a figure, bent at the waste and   
holding its side. At first Lita would have assumed this to be a   
simple bystander that had gotten in the way, yet the figure noticed   
them and raised itself to height again, turning towards them with   
eyes that blazed with the orange of fire.  
  
  
The sound was muffled in echoes, as though there was no end to   
the expanse of the room, but the murmurs were certainly voices.   
Hushed, quiet voices that resembled water drops in volume to   
Serenity's clogged ears.  
  
Barely conscious she could only listen, for as yet, she could not   
bring herself to open her eyes. Her body was heavy with nonuse   
yet lightly laid upon the flat surface. The voices rose in octave, as   
though an argument could be made out, though no words found   
themselves to her mind.  
  
With quick, fluttering movements Serenity commanded her eyes to   
open, though they responded sluggishly. She opened them to life,   
yet could not tell if they were open or she was simply dreaming   
they were. Around her nothing but the black of night echoed back   
to her. Slowly she pushed herself up onto her elbows and fought   
back the current of dizziness that assaulted her.  
  
She closed her eyes a moment and simply let the feeling of   
freefalling pass. She coughed lightly, unable to catch her breath   
quite well enough, as though there was not enough air in this space   
for her. She also noted that she was cold to the touch, as though   
the warmth of life had passed away from her…  
  
Life. She looked up fully now, sweeping her gaze around her in   
circles, eyes wide, frightened. Where was she anyway?  
  
Nothing came back to her as blackness clouded around her like an   
empty mist. There was literally nothing here.  
  
Serenity was closing on panic. Where had she been taken? Was   
she even still alive? What was happening on the Moon?  
  
"…Endymion?" she choked.  
  
The princess rose to a full sitting position and found herself staring   
off into the blackness of the night surrounding her…  
  
It was then that the whispers came again, still unrecognizable and   
hollow sounding, as though they flowed in from long distances.   
Serenity glanced around her, before stopping herself and listening   
closely to the sound. Slowly she turned to look behind her,   
following the sound that she attempted to hear.  
  
She drew in a deep breath as she nearly jumped out of her skin in   
first fright and then relief. Lady Styx stood a ways away, cloaked   
a bit in the darkness and watching her. Although the sight also   
held Serenity exactly where she was as the shadows, wrapped   
around her, formed a shape nearly unseen in the darkness.  
  
She saw Styx's lips move and she again heard the whispered words   
that simply did not reach her hearing. The phantom aside her   
moved to walk, or float, closer to her as it overlapped Styx's   
image. Serenity slid back, feeling all too trapped in this endless   
prison.  
  
Styx became visible once more as the shadow passed by in front of   
her and Serenity wanted to cry out to the woman for help, but she   
saw instead that none would be forthcoming from this would-be-  
guardian. She turned away from the scene with a sweep of ankle   
length black hair, which somehow now appeared to take on an aura   
of green… as though lit by the fires of Hades itself.  
  
  
Endymion staggered to his feet and regained his balance, his self-  
healing abilities helping to heal his broken arm already, although   
without his input as he had other things pressing on his mind. He   
stomped toward the clearing that he had originally stood posed   
over the top of earlier. He turned the corner and presented himself   
with the stop where Serenity had been lying when he had left her.   
Now, his high general stood in the place, cradling up the body of   
the small black cat that may have given her life for her princess.   
But it was not the cat that he had come to check on. He moved   
instead to the end of this row as well and looked out into the   
clearing where they had been attacked earlier, finding exactly what   
he wanted to see.  
  
The black-cloaked figure was still there, now being ever more   
surrounded by the forces of his court and Serenity's. "Where have   
you taken her?" he breathed, noting the sense of fatigue on the   
stranger. He was amazed at his own voice, raw and cutting, yet so   
low that he doubted anyone heard.  
  
Yet the other did hear, and he turned to face the prince. "You will   
not get away with this boy," he stated, so calm and demanding of   
pride that Endymion was certain that he had heard that voice   
before. Yet before he could come to terms with what he was   
thinking the other gather himself up and vanished, only to reappear   
inches from the prince's chest.  
  
Involuntarily he took a step back, unable to throw up a defense that   
fast he threw his right arm up and pivoted around to that side… he   
never made it.  
  
A ball of orange energy lit up from the right hand of his assailant   
as Endymion let his weight crumple beneath him as he spun away,   
falling just under where the saber of light would have cut through   
his breastplate. As it were, it clipped the shoulder brace of his   
already wounded left arm.  
  
In so close a contact, the other did not get a chance to detangle   
himself and nearly fell over the top of his prey as his swing missed   
its intended target. He staggered back to the side, dissipating his   
weapon as he leaned into the sidewall for support.  
  
Endymion propped back to his knees and he heard the words   
"Venus love chain, encircle!" from somewhere behind him. He   
saw from the corned of his eye, a loop of light wrap itself around   
the black-clocked man, bringing him to his knees. The prince   
stood as the others closed in quickly.  
  
But it was not over. Slowly raising his head, the man opened still   
flame burned eyes, which pulsed once in power before he   
disappeared from Mina's hold. Again he appeared before the   
group standing with arms raised and crackles readily flickering   
from his figures. "I will not be deterred from my mission!" he   
shouted, turning back fully to Endymion. He stood ready for the   
blast, yet knowing that he was more than likely too weak to dodge   
again.  
  
The blast was minimal and hurried compared to what he had   
become accustomed to, yet it was enough to knock him backwards,   
landing again on his left side as the bolts shot out and around him   
towards the rest of the assembled. Endymion barely noticed as   
instincts swept in on him once he hit the ground. Rolling from his   
sideways landing he again caught his feet under him and dove for   
the cover of a side row of green covered stone.  
  
He fell back against the protection and found himself choking too   
much to catch his breath. He could hear the battle continue as his   
guardian court came down full force on their adversary. Yet again,   
the prince raised himself to his feet and leaning against the now   
tangled brush, levered himself around the edge again to face the   
fight.  
  
He could not allow his over zealous protectors to char his opponent   
badly enough that he would not be able to find out what had   
happened to Serenity. Who else could be behind this and where   
had they taken her?  
  
He was stopped from rejoining the others, who had now led this   
warrior away as they attempted to capture the fleeting man. Before   
him a wall of shadow seemed to stretch open into an artificial   
gateway. This cloak shrouded a woman who, like him, watched   
the fight for only a second. She turned in her stance to glance back   
over her shoulder at him and Endymion recognized the   
uncharacteristic red eyes of Styx, the one symbol that always   
seemed to identify her as some otherworldly spirit…  
  
His court member glanced at him wistfully and an almost-apology   
showed behind her eyes as she turned fully to face him   
demandingly. He could not grasp what would cause this change in   
her or what power she held to hold open the doorway that she   
stood in, but he did not have long to ponder.  
  
The shadows stretched and strained around her as space itself tore   
for a moment and collapsed in again, swallowing both in jaws of   
non-existence.  
  
  
Endymion woke with a start and regained his feet without a   
thought. Searching the view around him, he found nothing to lay   
his eye on as every direction held the same unforgiving, eternal   
blackness. Calming himself he took an inventory of what had   
happened to him. The first of which was the fact that somehow   
Styx was responsible for his being brought here. Second that he   
had no idea how long he had been asleep or what was happening to   
his guardians.  
  
The next thing he noticed was that his shoulder did not hurt.  
  
He looked over at his left side and moved his arm around a bit,   
testing. Even if he had passed out for a time, he should not have   
been able to heal completely. Touching it gently he felt no pain,   
yet could tell that it was broken and bloodied. It was not healed,   
only numbed. Just as everything else in this place, his senses were   
useless.  
  
A sound of whispers stopped his heartbeat a moment as he strained   
to here. Nothing could be made out but the mumble of voices.   
Endymion slowly turned a full circle but could see nothing that   
would indicate life. …Life.  
  
The almost-voices quieted to nothing again, but on the contrary he   
felt as though those around him were closer than before. The   
faintest sound of a rustle brought him full turn and sword drawn,   
had he had one still, before he recognized the woman standing   
before him.  
  
Lady Styx stood watching him somberly, though he had to look at   
her twice before recognizing his friend. The woman stood clothed   
in a completely inappropriate outfit that would have had her   
banished from public life had this been the Earth's court. She held   
a staff lazily in her right hand, resembling a huge key with a garnet   
orb in the upper part.  
  
Yet more than anything, her hair flashed now and then a hue of   
green, vivid in this lit darkness by which he was viewing her. Red   
eyes still showed their color, though she turned away quickly from   
his questioning, accusing, glance. Turning her back on him she   
began to walk and Endymion could do nothing but follow a   
woman he thought he should have known.  
  
The distance they traveled could have been two meters, or two   
light years, he could tell no difference, but a light blinded him for a   
second as they entered an unbound section of this nightmare   
expanse. A ball of light illuminated a radius sufficient enough for   
two other figures to be seen, both of which shocked him.  
  
He found a woman cloaked in a long, straight, black gown that   
seemed to trail this endless night with her as a train. She sat   
perched on nothingness solidified into the form of a chair. Yet she   
rested her perfectly pale chin on her likewise porcelain hand,   
sitting at ease and conversing with a young woman seated on the   
"floor," numbly listening.  
  
Serenity had her legs wrapped up under her near the foot of this   
thrown, hands folded in her lap and eyes wide.  
  
"Serenity?" he asked nearly unbelieving of his eyes once more.   
The sound of his voice seemed to cause a ripple through the deep   
darkness and kept right on going; nothing blocked it enough for an   
echo to form.  
  
The princess snapped her head around at the sound of her name   
and looked up, shocked to see him. The other figure turned also   
with a smile, but it was Serenity that jumped to her feet and rushed   
forward. Neither of their assumed-to-be captors stopped her as she   
threw her arms around his waist so tightly that he was thankful that   
he could no longer feel his possibly bruised ribs.  
  
Her shocked countenance broke, and her eyes sprouted tears as he   
held her tightly, and as protectively as he could. He looked up   
again to notice Styx sliding over to stand beside this vision of   
Night and wondered exactly what these could want with them.  
  
This black-cloaked woman smiled again at the two as she sat   
comfortably, although he noted that Styx was resigned to gaze at   
the illusion of a floor.  
  
"What is it you want with us?" he asked, deciding that he was too   
tired to be anything but blunt. Serenity stirred in his embrace and   
turned herself just part way to see the two as well. Styx did not   
move her gaze, though her companion laughed. This woman stood   
to her full height, and stepped away from her… empty space of a   
chair, towards them.  
  
Endymion held Serenity just a bit closer to him at her approach   
though his bride did not seem to be too terribly afraid, making no   
move to remove herself from harm's way.  
  
"Forgive my inhospitality, I am not use to guests," she said   
humorously.  
  
"It does seem you need a new decorating theme," he muttered.   
"Where are we?"  
  
She laughed again, stopping her trek and folding her hands as they   
hung at her sides, clothed with what should have been the length of   
her second sleeves, giving the 'cloth' to trail past her wrists and   
draped into an infinite blackness. Likewise she trailed a train that   
also simply disappeared from view. Hair of matching black   
shimmering a bit blue now and again, but remained immeasurable.  
  
Her skin of perfect white tracing the outline of her scooped, off the   
shoulder, gown was all that did not seem created by this void.  
  
"Indeed. But you see, you are both nowhere and everywhere."  
  
"I have no interest with riddles," he said, anger influencing his   
speech.  
  
"Forgive me," she nodded. "Allow me to explain myself as best as   
even I can." She raised herself again and it was then that   
Endymion found himself looking into the face of someone   
certainly not human. Her eyes reflected back a buttery-golden   
light, as though lit by distant starts.  
  
She smiled again, lips embossed as though with the darkest wine.   
"I am called Night, Space, Absence… I am the embodiment of   
non-existence, and I truly have no name."  
  
@}---_____________  
"Human war has been the most successful of our cultural   
traditions." - Robert Ardrey  
  
"If you harden your heart with pride, you soften your brain with it,   
too." - Jewish Proverb  
  



	11. Chapter 10

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: Never give up hope, all is not lost until each of us looses faith   
in ourselves, in each other, and in the purpose to which we were   
called. Dedicated to those you continue to fight when odds are   
stacked against them. (There is a saiya-jin in all of us! ;) *Note   
this is a Dragon Ball joke and not intended for any who have not   
seen at least part of that series.  
  
  
Chapter 10  
@}---  
  
  
With a massive sweep of bent reality, both the forms of Endymion   
and Styx were swallowed whole and taken from the scene of the   
attack.  
  
Rei had never trusted the gentile, soft-spoken, red-eyed witch. She   
had known all along that there was something wrong with her, and   
now it seemed that her instincts had been right. Though what good   
it would do her now she did not know, although she would wager   
that Serenity had been ripped away likewise.  
  
Unfortunately she did not have the time to put all of the pieces   
together. Their opponent was visibly weakening, yet with his   
irritating ability to remove himself from their snares he was   
proving more and more illusive to capture, and capture seemed the   
last thing on his mind.  
  
Though weak enough that it appeared he could not transport   
himself far enough out of their reach to escape, he was making it   
difficult to follow as he bound through the gardens. His powers   
were enough to fry Lita the first time she went up one on one with   
his firry electricity. Since, they had been attempting double and   
triple teams, aligning themselves with the four Earth generals.  
  
Jadeite was still picking himself out of the bushes behind her as he   
had gotten in too close when she let go of her last barrage. Mina   
and Kunzite angled in from opposite corners with Ami having laid   
down a cover of a freezing mist that appeared to have quite an   
adverse effect on this enemy's sunny disposition.  
  
But the object of their attack faked again and was gone a second   
before the two hit, leaving them instead to wrap around each other   
and spill onto the rock pathway, attempting to avoid their own   
attacks.  
  
Lady Mercury's fog allowed them the surprise factor, but it also   
left them partially blind as well. Rei swept her gaze around the   
area in search of the landing point for this poltergeist, yet it was   
not until she was hit from behind and forced to acquaint herself   
with the ground rather intimately, that he showed himself.  
  
A bright blast of snaking orange light filtered over her and   
whatever dead weight had landed upon her back. She heard Ami's   
cry for her Mercury power of an icy blast and felt the effects   
through the tatters of her gown, which now lay mostly around her   
lower back. How she wished she could get her comfortable   
practice garments… of course, part of their duty was to be able to   
fight in skirts and heels.  
  
She rose herself and dislodged the lump that had landed on her, but   
was surprised when it groaned. "What the…?" She turned to see   
Jadeite lying next to her on the stone of the path, attempting to   
clutch his left shoulder blade area that had apparently gotten   
smoked by that blast that went over them. Pieces of his jacket had   
fallen away to reveal a tangled mess of his armor.  
  
He levered himself up with is good arm and looked back to were   
Ami's attack had succeeded in knocking their adversary off his feet   
and against a rock wall. He sighed once and looked back to Rei,   
"Some thanks I get for saving you."  
  
Her jaw worked a bit before she found her, rather indignant, voice.   
"Save me? You tried to crush me!"  
  
"Yeah, well, I do not see you burnt to a cinder."  
  
"Oh I can show you a cinder," she added, the goddess of fire   
knowing that threat well.  
  
"You already have," he mumbled, attempting to gain his feet.   
"You are supposed to spare the people on your side, not fry the   
whole lot of us." In his attempt to get up he swatted at the remains   
of her skirt, knotted around her legs improperly, and stumbled a   
bit.  
  
Rei huffed an outraged cry and stood, smoothing what was left of   
her skirt mockingly, and marching after her inexplicably evil ally.   
They walked over to where the others were gathering around the   
fallen prey and Rei caught up easily. "If you were not in my way,   
you would not have gotten burned," she huffed. "Maybe next time   
you will attempt to be productive in a fight."  
  
"Productive?" he said sarcastically. "Humorous coming from   
someone I saved."  
  
"Oh," she stated, stopping and facing him full focus. "Forgive me,   
your Lordship. Please, allow me to pat you on the back," she said,   
swatting her hand across his melted metal clad shoulder.  
  
She was rewarded with a holler of pain before turning to see that   
their captive had once more escaped their grasps. "Oh, by the   
Divine Fire…"  
  
  
"You are what?"  
  
She laughed at the reference. "I am what shall be known as the   
guardian of space."  
  
"Space has a guardian?" Serenity asked, still snuggled in   
Endymion's arms.  
  
The woman, or the figure of one anyway, nodded to her gently.   
"Indeed, though I am much different from the identity of the   
planetary guardians." She paused and turned slightly to Styx still   
behind them. "Are I not Lady Pluto?"  
  
"Pluto?" they both echoed together.  
  
Styx finally raised her eyes and walked forward, carrying her staff   
in hand. "Indeed we both are." Stepping up aside Space she   
bowed a bit. "I am sorry for having deceived you, Endymion."  
  
Serenity looked up at her husband but could not tell what he must   
have been feeling.  
  
"My guardian planet is not Earth, but Pluto; a planet long dead and   
forgotten by those who had attempted to settle its hostile   
environment. Yet just as the inner planets have powers so too does   
the icy planet of death, and I am the only one to tap those powers."  
  
"Yet, you controlled a piece of Earth's crystal?" he asked.  
  
"I did so by my abilities to understand the mysteries of my own   
crystal," she said looking up towards the orb that sat atop her staff.   
"Note that I did not control it at all well compared with you and   
Kallisto."  
  
He nodded again and Serenity was getting a headache from all of   
this information, and from having to look up at Endymion. She   
could not place why, yet she felt no hostility from these two…   
even if she did not understand them. "How did you become the   
guardian of a dead planet?" she asked instead.  
  
"I do not know," she confessed.  
  
"None of us do," Lady Space added.  
  
"None?"  
  
She nodded, turning slightly she called the orb of light over to her   
and it floated between them at her arm's length. "There is more   
than one planet that was unable to be habited."  
  
The orb grew to a flat disk within the space between them, and a   
little revolving Solar System showed itself to the group. The inner   
rocky planets showed up with their solar symbols prominent as   
well as Jupiter's bulk dotted with the floating cloud cities and the   
colonies on its outer moons that allowed habitation. Yet the other   
outer planets were dark and seemingly lifeless, yet they also   
glowed with symbols.  
  
"Each of the other planets still has a single guardian remaining,   
holding the powers of once sought for livelihood of those that had   
attempted to train these worlds for life. As they are uncalled on   
now, and unneeded, the others remain asleep, awaiting a day that   
will come when their strength is needed." She looked towards the   
guardian of Pluto, "And it is then that we will call."  
  
Pluto raised her eyes again. "This is not my first life, nor shall it   
be my last, I am the keeper of Time, and my duty is eternal   
vigilance and unrest."  
  
"As is mine," Space added. "Though I myself have no power to   
influence physically the events of these worlds, I am eternal in   
vigilance and undying. Were I ever human, I know not."  
  
"Yet you control space," Endymion stated.  
  
"I control nothing. I am not God, nor am I able to fight on one side   
or another, but I shall remain forever committed to seeing the more   
outstanding win. That is why I was intrigued by your cause," she   
gazed at the two of them. "The two of you shall begin history   
again and again."  
  
Serenity looked up to see Endymion looking back to her, yet   
neither of them understood.  
  
"This will be the first of many problems that you shall be in need   
of overcoming," she sited as she turned and retreated a ways away.   
"But this is the one that I am helping you with," she smiled and   
seated herself again on the figment of a thrown.  
  
The little model Solar System folded itself up and with a motion of   
her hand it returned to her side and a silver staff materialized that   
held it in much the same style that Pluto's did.  
  
"Then you are apparently not the one that we have been fighting   
against," Endymion ventured.  
  
She smiled, "No."  
  
"No," Serenity interjected very softly, "I know who is."  
  
The other three turned to focus on her as she looked up to the man   
that she had come to know as her whole. "Your opposer, High   
Council Loki…"  
  
He looked at her insanely, but Space interjected, "You are right,   
and you have come far, Princess. Loki is not who you think he is.   
He is truly the only living descendent of the former Sun Kingdom   
that was destroyed before your births. The cause of its power was   
whipped out by the natural power that could never be harvested by   
a crystal. Yet Loki survived and with a power that intense has   
remained alive and bitter. His powers are great, but he is old and, I   
am afraid, senile."  
  
The mater-of-fact tone of her voice almost implied a boredom, yet   
Serenity could think of only the fact that she had heard it in his   
voice when he threatened her. She had known her High Council   
member and, with enough pause to think back on it, she knew for   
sure that he was the one hunting her life, attempting to show the   
Earth as being to blame.  
  
It seemed that she truly did pick the most inappropriate time to   
create a backbone for herself with him… "Yet, was he also the   
one that attacked us on Earth?"  
  
She nodded, "It was up to 'Lady Styx' to make sure that he did not   
succeed, but he struck before we had anticipated… after all, even   
guardians are fallible."  
  
"Then he is the one that must be brought to justice," Endymion   
said quietly.  
  
"Were that possible, yes. Yet Loki is too old to care for his life, he   
would rather allow himself death now and do what he seems to feel   
is right."  
  
"And that is to kill me," Serenity murmured.  
  
"The Councilor sees you as a defect to the stability of the System.   
He also believes that you, Endymion, will spread ruin to the   
Moon's rule. He is paranoid over loosing power as he once did   
with the loss of his kingdom."  
  
Serenity disentangled herself from Endymion and took a brave step   
forward. "As the over-seer of space… Do you believe that I am   
fit to rule?" she asked, voice wavering only once.  
  
There was a surprised silence in this void without sound, yet Space   
gazed at her quietly before responding. "No."  
  
The princess nodded and turned her gaze away from them.  
  
"It is a blessing then, that you were never meant to rule alone."  
  
She looked back up to her as she felt the prince wrap his hands   
around her arms. Gazing up she caught his eyes and knew that her   
words were true. Slowly she closed her eyes again and leaned   
back into what had become fully her strength and her help.  
  
"Neither of you were meant to be individual on this path. I dare   
say that I had the utmost of doubts once this started," she paused   
looking that the two, "but I have come to other conclusions."  
  
Serenity smiled at the reference and she felt Endymion brush a   
slight kiss on her forehead before straightening his height. "You   
have to return me," he stated. "There must be a way to defeat   
Loki."  
  
The lady of Night looked up to her companion who nodded back.   
"Very well, but be cautious. And," she said rising once more,   
"remember."  
  
  
The blinding light of power shone enough that Endymion did not   
notice the blackness close in on them until he found himself   
standing behind a still raging battle with Serenity no longer by his   
side, which again hurt as the ache in his shoulder and rib cage   
returned to their whining.  
  
One flash of the orange light, of what he had come to know as the   
Sun's descendent power, lit the dark scene, and by now the area   
was crawled over with the palace guards unable to do much but   
watch the eight warriors that were tossed away from the elderly   
figure hiding behind the cloak of black. The group fell back again,   
unable to gather themselves close enough, though it seemed the   
other was not moving more than he was attempting to forestall   
their on slot.  
  
Endymion pressed forward and came up next to Kunzite, hunched   
down and holding a gash across his right thigh as well.   
"Endymion?" he questioned, seeing his prince alive and with them   
again.  
  
The prince only nodded, not taking the time to explain his state.   
Taking a quick survey around the perimeter group he could see   
that no one, man or woman, had escaped injury. And their   
opponent was no exception. Tears and cuts were visible even in   
the shallow light given off by the crackling orange electricity that   
now constantly encircled him.  
  
Growing in strength, the flashes grew more insistent, and their   
adversary took to his feet once more, seemingly hauled there by   
the force of the tide traveling through him. Endymion had the   
growing sensation of tragedy as he noted how Loki's body was   
merely being subjugated to the whims of his insane mind… "Loki   
is too old to care for his life, he would rather allow himself death   
now and do what he seems to feel is right."  
  
"He will not stop," he said to himself.  
  
"We noticed," Mina stated sarcastically from her position as she   
hurriedly attempted to bind Kunzite's wound with what had been   
part of her gown, much against his protests.  
  
"No, I mean he will destroy the entire palace, himself with it, if   
allowed." He continued to gaze at the insane Nobleman as the   
power striding around his battered body concentrated ever more.  
  
A surprise attack hit from opposite sides as Lita and Nephrite both   
crashed into view, rolling as they unleashed their powers to   
remove themselves from danger again. Yet the attacks deflected   
from the glowing static ball, the body inside of it rocking only   
slightly.  
  
"He is no longer there," Endymion breathed, staring at the body   
held upright only by the river of energy that pulsed around it.   
Loki, with his bi-location was no longer within the shell of his   
existence. As a man abandoning a dying ship, he was preparing is   
own death pyre and was intent upon taking the rest of them to hell   
with him.  
  
Endymion stood from his place and screamed for his guardians.   
They had to dislodge this power before it was released with its   
purpose. The others stood to face their threat, invoking no   
response from the apparition other than the growing power of   
nuclear fusion.  
  
  
Serenity found herself placed into the same row of roses that she   
had been tripped up in. The swelling of the black of night closed   
quickly behind her as it receded away. Not a second after she was   
left to her surroundings did an insistent ache at the side of her head   
cause her to fold at the knees and brace herself against the ground   
that she believed should not have been spinning. She heard a shout   
come from somewhere in the pain-induced reality that she had   
been thrust into, yet before she could rise to see what was   
happening she felt two hands attach themselves to her arms and a   
body fall to the ground beside her.  
  
She snapped her head back in fear and only managed to make her   
mind swim enough that she nearly passed out. But the arms that   
had wrapped themselves around her carefully laid her back and a   
voice sounded in her ears again. Insistent, worried, commanding,   
though she did not recognize it.  
  
"Princess Serenity?" it said again once her ears were freed from   
the blocking cotton of pain enough. Looking up carefully she saw   
a torch barer standing over her and the man crouched beside her   
was her own captain of the guards, her handmaid's husband.  
  
"Balder?" she choked, coughing slightly. He did not respond but   
instead helped her to a sitting position and gentle lent her a hand in   
keeping her up right.  
  
"What happened?" she asked quietly.  
  
"You appeared from no where and seem to be hurt," he stated,   
motioning the torch over farther. "We feared the worst out here,   
Highness, but we must move you to a safer place."  
  
"Loki," she breathed.  
  
"What, Highness?" he asked peering into her wide eyes with his   
own dark colored ones, attempting to find what injured her.  
  
"High Council Loki, he is the one attacking us," she stated   
frantically, causing her head to hurt just that much more.  
  
"Whoa, whoa," he said attempting to get her to calm down once   
more. "The Councilor? Why should he have reason to attack you,   
Highness?"  
  
"He is—"  
  
"Captain!"  
  
The other snapped his attention to the man calling his title and   
motioned the younger recruit over. In this youngster's hands lay   
the body of a black cat, one that held the symbol of a golden   
crescent moon on the fur of its forehead…  
  
"Luna!" she cried, tearing from the arms of Balder and bitterly   
fighting back the wave of blackness that surrounded her. "Give   
her to me!" she commanded as she crawled forward to her teacher   
and friend.  
  
The man, after a bit of hesitation, did as he was told and gently laid   
the limp body in her arms. The tears had already started, yet the   
princess did not notice them as her mind desperately fought the   
thoughts that continued to run through it.  
  
The fur on one side of the feline body was matted, and with a soft   
touch her fingers came away with a dark stain that appeared almost   
black in the dim torchlight… "Luna?" she questioned the little   
body so softly that the men surrounding her could never have   
heard.  
  
One of her tears dripped down her chin and off again as it landed   
in the fur of the neckline of this squatted soul. Distantly she heard   
an echo in her mind… "Serenity please, you know how terrible my   
fur looks when it gets wet!"  
  
"Luna!" she cried again, cradling the form in her arms and   
hunching over her. "No!"  
  
She closed her eyes tightly and kept on whispering, "no, please   
no." Yet something lit inside of her as the seconds ticked on. She   
had to do something, there had to be something to be done…  
  
And as she prayed for determination, the others still gathered   
around her would later swear that they saw an aura of silver   
overtake her shape.  
  
  
"Stand together!" he cried. "We only have one shot at this,"   
Endymion commanded the assembled guardians. The nine of them   
stood, surrounding their opponent and building their energy for one   
last effort to disrupt the intent of this madman.  
  
The other bad thing about insanity was that it seemed to increase   
power levels.  
  
The scene, had it not been quite so dire, would have been rather   
spectacular with the growing auras of five different colors as the   
guardians pulled power from the crystals of their homes. His four   
generals stood closer by and a gilded glow lit from the group as   
they concentrated. Ami stood bathed in the blue light of Mercury,   
Mina likewise was wrapped in the sunshine yellow of Venus, Rei   
was clothed in the red of Mars, and Lita excreted the green of her   
home, Jupiter.  
  
Yet they were running out of time as the orange of their opponent   
flashed once, and then again, and lit itself into a solid ball   
surrounding the mindless body inside. Flashes showed the   
unstable balance of this makeshift sun, and they were about to be   
the closest spectators to ever stand witness to a supernova.  
  
The group was fully prepared to act not as much as a deterrent, but   
as a defensive line in order to block the wave from the rest of the   
Moon's capital. Endymion opened his eyes for the last time in   
order to watch their assassin. This was very possibly their last   
stand, as the energy may not get passed them, yet it could very   
easily burn through their own defenses…  
  
"Space, was this in your little crystal ball?" he asked himself,   
thinking of nothing but Serenity and strengthening himself all he   
could in order to protect her… To protect his life, should he die   
here.  
  
He closed his eyes again, feeling the swell of power and the   
beating of his heart… along with a small ache.  
  
The moment did not last as the on slot started much before he   
would have wished. The ball flared out and the connection of the   
powers surrounding it was the only thing that contained it within   
their boundaries. Yet that was only the final flash. With the speed   
of light the ball imploded again to a pinpoint as the body that had   
once been Loki dissolved into the fray as the energy collided with   
an ear shattering snap and sprinted out in a shockwave.  
  
Endymion braced himself to hold off this massive attack as long as   
his body was capable… yet it did not come.  
  
Without a split second he opened his eyes to behold the twisting   
ball of flame and nuclear energy stalled into a frozen fixture still   
well within the confines of their circle. He looked around him to   
the others also in dismay of what was happening only to find that a   
solitary figure shadowed him from the main emphasis of the   
power. A figure clothed in a scandalously short skirt, long black   
hair shimmering green and a silver staff raised high and emitting a   
multi colored light towards the explosion.  
  
"Guardian of Time…" he muttered, the implications clicking into   
his mind.  
  
"Attack, while it can still be dissipated!"  
  
"Attack now!" he added as the others were prompted into action.   
The powers that had been used to support the front line were   
turned in towards the now jerkily expanding mass. The others   
began their assault, yet he could not since Pluto's frame was still in   
his line of fire and still attempting to hold this force back.  
  
But the other's attacks seemed to be working as the energy poured   
into the core of this explosion, distorting the balance of its eruption   
and sending the less powerful shockwaves out in more measurable   
busts. And yet, the woman he had come to call a friend, remained   
in his path until she was no longer able to hold the ball's advances.  
  
The final explosion was diminished enough that once they saw that   
the explosion was emanated, the re-linking of their powers was   
more than sufficient to block the devastating effects of its powers.   
The gradual release of its energy passed mostly into the darkened   
sky above, almost harmlessly, away from them. This level of the   
gardens would never be the same, but the circular artificial clearing   
was prevented just short of tearing down the balcony of the palace   
proper over thirty meters away.  
  
Yet the effort took its toll on those involved as each member   
slumped to the ground, a few falling unconscious and others   
simply unable to catch their breath that had been taken by the blast.  
  
Endymion had one more thing on his mind before he allowed   
himself to cave in… The Guardian of Time may have saved their   
lives, and that of possibly a hundred others within the radius that   
this would have wiped off the face of the moon, but she had not   
faired well either. The final explosion had flung her backwards   
and now her body lay only a meter away from him.  
  
On hands and knees he crept closer to her and a meter or a hundred   
would not have made difference for what he felt like. Coming   
closer, he could make out in the darkness very little of her in the   
wavering light of the onrushing guards. Slowly he leaned over her   
and rolled her gently over unto her back. Styx lay there, dressed   
again in her gown of state tattered as it was, and her hair loosely   
sprayed out about her.  
  
"Styx?" he questioned, his cut lips did not pronounce the word   
well, but she slowly opened her eyes in the torchlight that was now   
beginning to circle around them. The same red eyes that he had   
believed that he knew so well...  
  
Carefully she turned her head enough to look up at him, and he   
could just see that she managed a smile. Her lips moved slightly   
and he lowered his ear to hear her. "Endymion…" she breathed,   
"do not hate me… for what I had to do." She coughed a few times   
and he knew her injuries were more sever than he had imagined.  
  
He promptly wrapped a hand under her neck and prepared himself   
to concentrate his healing powers on her. She mumbled again and   
he bent lower once more. "Do not…" she said. He looked at her   
and with the look in her eyes he knew that she had other plans.   
"This is my penalty," she said slowly between breaths.  
  
He shook his head, not understanding her. Yet her only response   
was a slight smile as she closed her eyes again. Endymion realized   
too late what was happening and moved closer to her, but heard   
her speak again, "Time goes on…" He only sat with her body   
cradled in his lap and face centimeters from hers, only able to   
watch her slip away. "Endymion…" she repeated, once, then   
twice, and one final time she mouthed the word before her head   
limply lolled in his embrace.  
  
He sat for a moment, still gazing at her. "Styx…"  
  
Swallowing hard he gently moved her body to the ground, but   
paused before regaining his feet. Looking once more at her, he   
closed his eyes, "You are beyond time and space, Guardian Pluto."   
Opening his eyes once more, he looked out instead to the darkness   
of the sky above them, "How could I hate you for what you have   
done for me?"  
  
The others had gathered around him, yet he doubted that any   
would have heard his words. As he began to stagger up one of the   
palace guards wrapped his arm over his shoulders and helped him   
to stand as others began an examination of the injuries… And two   
went to care for Lady Styx's body.  
  
"Serenity."  
  
The guard that had attached himself to Endymion's side nodded   
and answered, "She is safe and caring for the feline councilor   
Luna."  
  
Luna, so the little savior cat had survived. He laughed slightly to   
himself, had all but one of them escaped this with their lives?   
Again he looked up to the sky as they slowly made their way back   
towards the palace entrance…  
  
  
@}---_____________  
"When two people love each other, they don't look at each other,   
they look in the same direction." - Ginger Rogers  
  
"When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men   
invade another country." - Elayne Boosler  
  



	12. Epilogue

"For Serenity's Sake"  
By: Isis @}---  
isis@moonkingdom.com  
Rated: G  
Disclaimers: Please do not copy.  
AN: The wrap up and conclusion to another installment of my   
imagination. Please note, this epilogue is meant to encompass   
several years time. Dedicated to the dreamers, there are select few   
of us out there, and we have a place… who else can God count on   
to love rainy days and simply need a good book? ;)  
  
  
Epilogue  
@}---  
  
  
Endymion rested his hip against the railing to the first story   
balcony outside of his quarters. The prince was happy to be back   
to the soil of his birth, yet it felt foreign to him in some way. The   
experiences of the past week had numbed him badly, and he found   
himself clinging on to some idea of what should have been, more   
than allowing the happens of what was settle in.  
  
The palace was quiet and the wind whistled cold through his   
nightclothes. And still he stared up at the frozen stars mingling   
their light through the clear ice of the sky.  
  
The battle that took with it both the near insane Council Loki and   
mysterious Lady Styx was still prevalent in his mind… and on his   
conscience.  
  
He was not all that surprised to find that no one had seen Styx, in   
her true form, withholding the blast that was intended to destroy   
them. None had known how she had accomplished it once they   
found out that it was her powers that had held it at bay enough for   
the core of the explosion to be uncondensed enough to limit its   
power.  
  
And he was not to ever mention what their friend's purpose had   
truly been here, or that her sacrificed was for penalty of using the   
extent of her powers over Time.  
  
Serenity as well had promised to keep her secret and remained   
faithful to that. Glancing over his shoulder he looked into their   
rooms, ensuring that her door was still closed. The princess had   
saved the life of her teacher and friend, Luna, by her abilities to   
heal. And she had come into her own as far as her powers were   
concerned, and grew forward in them readily now.  
  
The Councils of the planets had been aghast at the prospect of one   
of their own driven over the edge and with what could have been   
disastrous consequences. …Or more disastrous.  
  
He shook his head and looked up to the stars once more. He could   
not escape Styx's last words, but oddly they did not haunt him,   
instead they gave him hope that her spirit was indeed well. He did   
not understand the mysteries of her mission, yet he could not   
question her loyalty to them or her obedience to the path that she   
had chosen for herself.  
  
Looking up again, he found, not a bright star, but a patch of blank   
sky, and in that darkness he smiled slightly. Her domain was   
never Earth, nor even this Solar System. She guarded all beyond   
that, guarded time itself. He had nothing to fear for her, or for   
their future.  
  
Turning away he retreated inside; and in the patch that he had   
sighted, there began a faint flicker of garnet light…  
  
  
The thaw of the spring introduced the Earth's Palace to a warmth   
of heat and color as the snows gave way to the rising temperatures   
and the flowers that dared to peek through the cover of white   
slowly replace it with more intriguing hues.  
  
Though the nights were still cold, the snow had turned to rain and   
when clouds filled the sky of such a night, the rain did not come   
alone…  
  
"Endymion!"  
  
The cry sent the prince from the grips of sleep and to a sitting   
position in his bed only a second before Serenity crashed into him;   
the door that adjoined their rooms just now banging against the   
wall behind it due to the force she had exerted on it.  
  
She leapt onto the bed and headfirst into his arms as another blast   
apparently ricocheted off the castle walls. Cringing for dear life   
she threw her arms tightly around him and whimpered   
uncontrollably.  
  
"What?" he questioned quickly. "What is it? Serenity?"  
  
He cradled her against him as the sound continued from outside,   
this time accompanied by a blast of white light that lit the room.   
She cringed back again and pointed towards the window across the   
bed, too shocked to speak.  
  
He looked to her outstretched hand, tense beside her; yet still   
unsure what it was that terrified her. Serenity croaked out a   
question, balling herself smaller into his arms, "Are we under   
attack?"  
  
He looked down at her, in the room being lit sporadically by the   
light from the blasts, and the rumble could be heard near   
constantly. How could he not notice a battle being wagged right   
outside the walls of their protection?  
  
He shook his head slowly and she heard him begin to laugh softly,   
in what seemed like an eternity inside her view of frightened   
energy. She looked up at him insanely confused, and now   
possibly more frightened.  
  
Yet for his part, Endymion took to holding her a bit more tightly   
and rubbed a hand down her back and a kiss to her hair. "No,   
there is no attack, Princess," he soothed.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"It is only a lightning storm."  
  
She looked to him, more confused than frightened. "What?" she   
questioned, nearly unheard in another wave of the rumbling.  
  
He smiled at her in the bright flashes. "It is a rain storm. Nothing   
more."  
  
"Rain?" What sort of rain would come with such destruction?  
  
He nodded, pulling her close and settling back against his   
headboard. "Storms are common here, especially during the   
spring."  
  
"But, what is it?"  
  
He pointed calmly at the window and whispered close to her ear.   
"The flashes are lightning, something that you commonly do not   
have on the Moon since your weather is instituted by the calm of   
the Silver Crystal. As far as any know, it is a force created by the   
clouds rubbing against each other."  
  
She gazed out the window, mesmerized by the thought of these   
forces being natural, and not the destructive energies of what has   
come to be the sole donation of mankind to creation. She could   
not turn away, but her hands still clung tightly to her husband.  
  
"The sound is called thunder, it is now being described as the   
direct result of these flashes of energy."  
  
Serenity barely heard his words as a mounting crash smashed into   
them, possibly shaking the foundations of the castle. She turned   
from her trance and buried her head into the covers, wrapped   
haphazardly around his frame.  
  
Endymion pulled the remainder of the covers up around her and   
held her fast, smoothing her hair and pecking a kiss here and there   
along her head. "It can not harm you, Princess," he whispered to   
her, using his often-said pet name to sooth her.  
  
She glanced up again, his words striking her. "No?"  
  
He shook his head slowly as more light poured through the   
windows. "You are perfectly safe here."  
  
She glanced around her again and settled back against him, wide-  
eyed and frightened but more calm. Perhaps, there truly was   
nothing to fear. Yet each time she thought that, another roar of   
this "thunder" ripped physically through her.  
  
Each time she would cringe, and Endymion would pull her a bit   
tighter or rub a hand along her neck, to sooth her. And once she   
quieted her heartbeat enough, she heard his, slow and calm,   
unruffled by the developments of his planet's weather.  
  
Slowly the noise diminished to infrequent busts, yet each time she   
thought to remove herself from her guardian's care a blast sent her   
heart-rate soaring. Her nerves were trembling and her eyes were   
dry, yet he held her close and allowed her sporadic questions on   
the nature that now terrified her.  
  
Realizing this, Serenity rose herself from his arms just a bit and   
looked up at him. "I am sorry…"  
  
"For what?" He tipped her chin up a bit farther. "I should   
apologize for not having versed you on this before."  
  
She shook her head, "You underestimate the type of coward I am."  
  
He chuckled at her, not very strong, joke and hugged her once   
more, finding her hand in the wad of covers and bed sheets. He   
slid over to the opposite side of the bed and tugged at her hand to   
come with him. "There is only one way to rid yourself of that."  
  
She shook her head furiously once she discovered that he meant to   
lead her towards the window.  
  
He nodded again and held her hand fast, but waiting on her to   
finished crewing her bottom lip before slowly following. She   
realized now that her lip mildly hurt and, she was sure, slightly   
swollen as well from her nervous biting. She truly would have to   
break herself of that habit…  
  
He padded over to the window that still slowed flashes of light and   
the rumblings were distanced a bit now, but still grudgingly   
frightening. Endymion led her before the window and wrapped   
his arms around her, calmly standing her before the glass and the   
elements outside it.  
  
The flashes, she now saw, emanated from the clouds seemingly so   
low in the sky. The waves of light crawled along their lumpy   
surfaces and etched out patterns that, had she not been so numbed,   
would have caused a greater sense of wonder than fear.  
  
Yet off in the distance a line of light, branched and forked in many   
places, slashed like a knife from the sky to the ground of the   
horizon. A second later, the quick burst of an explosion   
ricocheted around them. Serenity pressed back into her husband's   
care and he cradled her tightly.  
  
"That is sky to ground lightning. It has been known to cause some   
mischief, but normally it is more show than fight," he whispered   
aside her ear. "It is nothing to fear, yet I warn you never to be   
caught without on such a night."  
  
She nodded solemnly that she would never attempt that adventure.  
  
He led her back to the bed and let her sit down. "Are you all right   
now?" he asked, kneeling down next to her in the light-studded   
dark.  
  
"Yes," she mumbled shakily. And by the quiet she knew he did   
not believe her. "Truly, I will be well."  
  
He chuckled and rose to place a kiss on her forehead, "Then why   
do I still feel a desperate fear from you?"  
  
She sighed hopelessly, how did she lie to someone that could feel   
her emotions? "Perhaps, but I have taken up enough of your rest,"   
she commented.  
  
"Indeed." He scooted her over and crawled into the bed beside   
her.  
  
She was surprised at the move and she now found herself rather   
shamed at having spent so much time within his bed already   
without even thought of it.  
  
He curled the covers up again and glanced at her, pulling her chin   
over to look at him. "Stay here tonight."  
  
Serenity did not know what to say, it was not as though they were   
not married, yet they were fully without relations…  
  
"You will never get to sleep alone and you are still frightened."   
He smiled at her, "Allow me the honor of your protection,   
Milady."  
  
He bowed just a bit and she could not help but smile at his   
warmth. "I should not impose," she muttered though.  
  
"No imposition, I would just like you to feel safe." He hugged her   
lightly and she fell warmly into his embrace.  
  
"If you so insist, my Prince."  
  
He lowered them to the mattress snuggled the covers close. She   
felt a bit unplaced again and wondered at the properness of the   
situation, yet with the receding sounds of the storm, she did feel   
safe still wrapped in his arms and within these walls. She felt a   
blush rise to her checks as she noticed for the first time that both   
her and her husband were clothed in much less than they had   
previously seen each other in, and she became rather thankful of   
the dark.  
  
The thoughts continued, yet she slowly began to slip off,   
comfortable as she was against his side, and her worries for the   
future also began to melt away as she would look back on this   
from time and again.  
  
  
The darkness penetrated everything, and was everything. Deep   
and cold in a place outside of existence, two figures stood in this   
emptiness filled with all that they knew.  
  
A circle of light illuminated by images held within its spherical   
frame. They spiraled rapidly, projecting a loop of snap-shots of a   
singular couple; a young woman with long blond hair, and a man   
cloaked in armor.  
  
The visions continued to play without pause as they reflected the   
pair, here dressed and dancing at a ball, here atop a horse in the   
countryside of Earth. Once it showed them wrapped within a   
blanket, just kept from the rainfall outside the shelter of the   
overhang of the balcony above them. Another flash illumined   
them back-to-back in a makeshift argument.  
  
Several hundred moments flew by in the timeless instance of these   
two figures… yet it came to pause upon a scene frozen in the   
second of a flash of lightning. The two lay curled together,   
wrapped under covers in soft sleep.  
  
"God grant that they shall last," came a soft feminine voice from   
the keeper of space.  
  
The other remained, silent and watchful.  
  
Looking to the other the first asked, "Will you be this subdued   
when you meet him again?"  
  
Lady Pluto turned to regard her. "Time has a way of altering   
things, and it shall be the one to tell."   
Without farther comment the other walked away, headed once   
more for the cold outer rim and to her waiting rest.  
  
The other looked after her before turning once more to the globe   
still before her. With a flicker of her hand the ball extinguished   
itself in a bust of light and the black of night was only interrupted   
by a formless voice. "And once in motion, a force shall forever   
remain in motion."  
  
  
Kunzite looked up from his book as someone walked into the   
library. The ball was still in full display, yet Mina happily   
wondered into the dimmer lit sitting room. Flipping her long   
golden hair back behind her she walked forward, clasping her   
hands behind her back.  
  
"To what do I owe the pleasure of the Social Light visiting me?"   
he asked setting his book aside. She stopped before him, still   
draped in her formal gown.  
  
"It is my duty to ensure that you do not skip out on your duties,"   
she said easily.  
  
He frown up at her, "What would that be?"  
  
She blinked a few times, realizing that her joke did not seem to   
work. "Well, to attend these functions of state," she mumbled,   
more to the floor than to him.  
  
"I see," he said, eyeing her playfully. "Would that be because the   
prince would like to see me there, or because you would?"  
  
She looked up at him, a bright blush busting in her checks.   
Stuttering she lost eye contact again as she found the floor tiles did   
not have her script written on them.  
  
Kunzite rose from his chair and, smiling, tipped her chin up to   
look at him. "I am hoping for the latter," he mumbled. Before she   
could gain herself for an answer he lowered his lips to hers to   
quiet them. The initial shock wore away quickly as he heard a   
dreamy sigh before she sweetly kissed returned his lips' visit.  
  
  
Minerva smiled triumphantly at the young woman beside her as   
the two made their way quickly away from the prince's quarters.   
Ida, the child-maid of Princess Serenity, giggled along happily   
beside the elder servant of the Earth's court. The two were not   
prone to eavesdropping, yet they had ears, surely the wish was to   
not allow their disuse…  
  
"The princess would think of having us both flogged should we   
mention this to anyone," she sighed as they dismounted the stairs   
from the young heirs' second story wing.  
  
"Indeed, I believe Endymion would allow her the spectacle," she   
muttered between chuckles.  
  
The two continued to laugh their way along the corridors, now in   
search of such friends as would be interested in hearing what two   
old and two young ears had to say…  
  
  
"It is impolite to spy upon your friends," seemed to be the only   
thing Ami had to say as she was tagged along behind Lita, Zoicite   
and Nephrite. Yet she was being physically dragged by Lita as   
they follow, nonchalantly, behind the two generals.  
  
"Come on Ami, they have been out here for hours, they could be   
in some sort of trouble."  
  
"We would know if there was trouble," she commented   
practically.  
  
Zoicite circled back around and placed an arm around her waist.   
"Come now, we will only ensure that they are all right," he   
soothed.  
  
She was still unsure of sneaking around, looking after their lieges,   
yet she found a blush to her checks at being carried along by the   
general.  
  
The group came to a crossing in the gardens and Nephrite snagged   
onto Lita's arm, calling her back from the front of the group to   
creep up behind a bush. "I would not have figured you for the   
type to play pranks like this, General Nephrite," Lita commented,   
giggling as lightly as possible.  
  
He smiled a bit at her, "In truth, neither did I."  
  
The four chuckled over their goofiness, yet they continued to inch   
forward until the group was in earshot of two voices. They paused   
to listen for a few moments, unable to catch any good gossip, and   
only managing the weather report and a few varied accounts of the   
flowers nearby. The group slowly slinked away again.  
  
"That was almost dejecting," Zoicite commented as they left   
again.  
  
"It was simply not right of us."  
  
At that Lita spun around, arms crossed and rolled her eyes. "Oh   
come on," she sighed. "We are made to live lives, not look at   
them!"  
  
Ami held to her proper position and simply folded her hands in   
front of her, lowing her eyes and preparing a lecture. "I just do not   
think—"  
  
She squeaked loudly as she found herself picked up bodily from   
the ground and placed in the arms of Zoicite. Looking up she   
found herself nose to nose and inches from his crystal green eyes.   
"We are going to have to teach you to be a bit more lively."  
  
The other two laughed at the sight and he carried her easily   
towards the fountain, central to this area of the rose garden.   
Seeing this she clutched onto his neck, determined not to be   
dumped off. "You would not!"  
  
He chuckled, "Of course not."  
  
She sighed, relieved.  
  
"But I have wondered how far your manipulation over water   
goes."  
  
She smiled sweetly, and found an evil idea plant itself in her mind.   
It would be his own fault for being such an influence. "Only as far   
as I need them to," she commented.  
  
He looked at her oddly, and was rather unprepared for a splash of   
the fountain to rise up and dump itself over the top of his head, yet   
barely dampening her.  
  
His ponytail was soggy, and once he reopened his eyes, his bangs   
were draped over them and dripping. She could not help but laugh   
at his expense, yet helped to remove the hair from his eyes. Yet   
without warning, and with one hand not supporting her, she found   
herself dropped from his arms into those of the fountain they were   
beside.  
  
The cold of its water sprung a shiver up her back and she shrieked   
beside herself.  
  
Even at that, Zoicite was quick to offer her a hand to rise from the   
water, and once soggily on her feet again; he wrapped his hands   
over her shoulders, laughing uncontrollably. "I am sorry," he   
mumbled between bouts of chuckles, and for reason she was not   
sure of, she returned his laughter at their predicament.  
  
The other two continued to laugh uncontrollably, Lita holding on   
to Nephrite's arm to keep herself upright. "Of course you know   
what this means," she managed to him.  
  
"What?"  
  
Leaning up she showered over him an avalanche of leaves, picked   
up from a newly racked pile behind them. "We can not allow   
them to outdo us!"  
  
  
A quiet blanket of snow covered the winter ground. Its quilted   
patterns overlay small bushes and trees tucked in for the long night   
of their peaceful sleep. The dim winter quiet permeated the air   
and hung in the heavy drapes of clouds above; promising more   
snow once the night's cold was sufficient.  
  
Nothing disturbed this white loneliness… Except for a few flying   
snowballs.  
  
"Oh!" Rei squeaked, as she fell over, off balanced by the sudden   
splat of frozen water against her muffed right ear. Toppling over,   
her aim was thrown off and her shot at the now-ducking Lita went   
wide.  
  
"Come on, Pyro, too cold for you?"  
  
The fallen princess picked herself up, dusted off the snow, and   
glared ice cycles at her offender, who for his part stood a ways   
away, bouncing a prepared ball up and down in one hand. "That is   
princess to you, General Jadeite." Walking slowly forward with   
one hand on her hip she continued to glare at his mockingly   
smiling face. "Of course if you would like me warm things up a   
bit I would be more than happy to," she added.  
  
He nodded happily as she slid up next to him. "Oh would you,   
Princess?" he asked leaning his check down towards her for a   
peck.  
  
"Of course," she mumbled, hopping up on one toe and promptly   
bringing her other hand up to knock his remaining snowball, hand   
still attacked, to smash into the side of his face. "I am said to be   
the Queen of Cold Shoulders," she sighed happily and walked   
back towards the fray, spinning just fast enough for her length of   
black hair to whip past his face as well.  
  
"Funny," the other mumbled, wiping the wetness from his face, "I   
thought I was the one that gave you that title."  
  
Endymion and Kunzite stood slightly behind this whole scene and   
neither could help but laugh at their comrade. They continued to   
laugh at the sight of five royal princesses throwing snow at each   
other. And of course, Jadeite was not the only one that had been   
lead into the fray either. Zoicite was right at home in the snow   
and was more than happy to show the girls a few strategies.   
Nephrite likewise had been carried out by an insistent Lita, who   
somehow had become a favorite target.  
  
And acting as a protector he was not fairing as well either.   
Coming from a section of Earth that, like Kunzite's home, never   
saw snow, he was doing all he could to keep both of either heads   
down. The prince and the high general had so far been able to   
avoid being drug into this little war, yet they were not going to last   
long either.  
  
A surprise attack was launched from behind as they had been   
absorbed by Jadeite's terrible flirtation display. Two snowballs   
flew out of nowhere to land upside either of their heads.  
  
Two figures, nearly indistinguishable in the overstuffed coats and   
makeshift pants, blond hair spilling from around the hoods,   
giggled merrily. The two men wiped snow from their faces and   
looked at each other hopelessly. "You realize that they do not   
believe that we will retaliate, correct?" Kunzite asked quietly.  
  
"Correct," Endymion responded. "But neither of them realize how   
frosted I am just standing here."  
  
The two nodded, and while their opponents were distracted, they   
attacked. Kunzite scooped up a handful of snow and narrowed the   
gap between them too quickly for Mina to run far. Catching her   
arm he spun her around from her gasped flight and threw the   
powdery snow into her face, bracing her from falling over   
afterwards with a supportive arm around her back.  
  
Endymion never bothered picking up the pillowing fluff, he only   
caught Serenity by the waist and spun her around. A decisively   
too quick movement that left them off balance and waveringly   
landed them in the nearest bank.  
  
Endymion heard Serenity mumble something and looked up to   
find her pulling herself upright, white powder cascading off of her   
face as she had landed right side down into the mound. The prince   
could do nothing but lie there and laugh at the sight she made,   
brushing her already red checks off with the sleeves of her coat.  
  
Hearing him laugh at her she promptly smacked him with her   
sleeve as she shook her head to get the snow out of her hair. He   
continued to laugh as he pushed himself up to one elbow and used   
the other hand to brush her bangs back from her face. Her nose   
and checks were both cold and red, yet she smiled at him   
warmly… Warm enough to melt his heart that much more.  
  
A small snow-shrouded bush hid them from view of most of the   
still rampaging others and he could not help but see them as   
secluded enough. Looking up into those two beautiful blue eyes   
that he had come to know more deeply than his own, he carefully   
leaned up towards her, using the hand he held on her chin to bring   
her down to meet him. She giggled a bit at the move, but did not   
back away as he met her lips to his, warming the frostbite from   
them both in a sweet embrace. Releasing her lips he rubbed his   
nose over hers, her breath warm on his check. Giggling   
hysterically she backed away, rubbing her nose with her sleeve   
again, as though the cold had amputated her hands.  
  
Slowly he picked himself to his feet, helping her up as well, but   
not letting go. With the others still chasing themselves around the   
once proud gardens, he pulled his wife into a warm hug and she   
willingly snuggled in close. "You were not suppose to retaliate,"   
she muttered.  
  
He laughed again, "I know."  
  
With her hood partially folded back from the surprise attack he   
pecked a light kiss on her hair. Placing his chin on her head he   
noted a snowflake fall gently down in front of his eyes. Looking   
up he could see that it had started in again sooner than they had   
expected, probably attempting to make up for the damage that the   
group had done to the beautiful landscape it had created earlier.   
Looking around he was tempted to call the rest of them inside for   
the night, yet he found no one near…  
  
He did not get the chance to figure out where they had gone before   
a full barrage of flying snow hit the two of them from all sides.  
  
  
"Is there a reason that you must be so persistent?"  
  
General Jadeite followed the red-cloaked woman out onto the   
balcony of the Moon's Imperial Palace and continued to pester the   
young woman. "I simply asked you for your hand in a dance,   
Milady."  
  
She spun back with an annoyed gurgle. "For the last time,   
General, I am not interested."  
  
"No?" he questioned looking hurt. She spun away; nose tilted a   
bit too high as she walked on. He followed with a smile. "But   
perhaps I am?"  
  
"I do not particularly care."  
  
Her haughty voice only led him on as Jadeite continued his   
frequent bickering with Lady Rei. She was the only person that he   
had come to know that could always return his banter, never   
faltering to have a comeback.  
  
He had no doubt that he annoyed her, but in truth the few times   
that he had resolved to lessen his attempts at gaining her interests,   
he found himself wrapped in a conversation just as vibrant, and   
usually by this lady's fault. Perhaps wishful thinking, yet he could   
not help but try his hand at this woman… time and again as it was.  
  
She glanced behind her to see him still following along, taking in   
the scenes of the night while tagging in her footsteps. And she just   
as quickly turned back around, throwing only a "Will you quit   
following me?" back over her shoulder.  
  
He chuckled, and stepped up his pace to stride beside her, "Do you   
mean me, Princess?"  
  
She did not even flutter a response as she sidestepped onto a   
downward stairway and away from him again. He did not follow   
but instead turned back the other direction and prowled along her   
path above her as she made her way through the beginnings of the   
garden just below this balcony.  
  
She paused at a small bench and turned to look behind her, yet   
found no one there. Looking more curiously around her she still   
found no sight of him and seated herself with a sigh on the stone   
directly beneath Jadeite's feet.  
  
"Why might I be so cursed by that man?" she asked herself aloud.   
Shaking her head she looked back again and still finding no one   
she giggled to herself and leaned back upon her hands, looking up   
at the sky with a happy sigh and smile touching her lips… Only to   
have that smile washed quickly away.  
  
"Cursed indeed," he muttered indignantly, staring openly at her.  
  
With a growl she jumped up to her feet and then surprised him by   
bounding up atop the bench she had been seated on to rise to a   
height just above that of the railing he lounged against. "Is there a   
specific purpose why you are incapable of leaving me be?"  
  
Pausing thoughtfully, Jadeite tapped his finger against the stone   
rail before quite straight-facedly stating, "No."  
  
She slapped a hand atop his tapping finger to quiet it and   
threatened to turn away. Catching her hand though he stopped her   
and she wheeled back to him on being restrained. "Although, I   
could be forced into submission, should the lady allow me only   
one dance this evening," he smoothed over, attempting a quick   
peck on her hand, though not making contact before she yanked it   
away.  
  
"Why should I want such a thing as that?"  
  
"To get rid of me?"  
  
She laughed heartily and stood up to face him fully, "I do believe I   
was told that before."  
  
"Yes, but that only lasted for one night." He bowed his head to   
lounge it against his hand held by the elbow on the railing and   
smiled at her. "How should a man be able to content himself with   
just that for the rest of his lifetime?"  
  
"Your lifetime may be shorter than you anticipate, General."  
  
There was no fire behind her words, but it was that argumentative   
indifference that he was truly growing very fond of. "Then you   
would not disallow a dying man a last wish, would you?"  
  
She rolled her eyes and swished her long shadow of hair behind   
her. She leaned forward against the railing and gazed up at him a   
moment. "What wrong did I do you in a past life to make you   
hunt me like this?"  
  
"No wrong," he smiled, settling lower in his stance.  
  
"Then you simply enjoy these arguments?" she questioned   
indignantly.  
  
"Of course," he answered honestly. "One of the best of your   
features…" he muttered, taking in her, and the bright earthlight he   
was slowing becoming accustomed too.  
  
Her dubious expression softened slightly but she laughed at him   
just the same. "I am so thrilled that you noticed."  
  
"Always," he smiled, lowing his chin to his crossed arms above   
the railing, looking her directly in the eye.  
  
She seemed surprised by his switch of tactics, but she was no less   
without a comment. "Is there not someone else that you could   
take your 'affections' out on? Why am I so singled out?"  
  
He smiled, still gazing her, wondering just the same thing. He had   
never imagined being so knotted by a single woman… but none   
also had those perfect violet eyes. "Because you have an answer   
for almost everything," he said instead.  
  
She blinked, "Just almost? It seems to me that—"  
  
He nodded, and leaned in closer over the rail that separated them   
before allowing her to finish. "Let me just test it," he whispered,   
before he thought of his actions, and leaned in; brushing her lips   
with his in a small kiss.  
  
Pulling away he looked up to see her eyes wide and stunned.   
Realization clicked in his head a few seconds too late and he   
leaned back. He had just committed what would be a high treason   
against a maiden of her years without her consent. Violating his   
soldier's protocol was not the foremost care on his mind as he   
looked back at her unblinking stare, realizing that that simple kiss   
was completely unbidden and unreturned.  
  
"Rei," he muttered, tearing his eyes away, "please forgive me…"  
  
"Forgive you?" came a breathed question.  
  
He looked back down at her, swallowing hard. To his surprise she   
held a smirk to her lips and a glimmer in her eyes.  
  
"Why should I want to do such a thing as that?" He shook his   
head absently and she stepped up on tiptoe, placing her hand on   
his shoulder to being him closer, "I always have a come-back."  
  
Sliding her hand up to his neck she brought him closer yet and   
rose to meet her lips to his again. Shocked it took him a moment   
to register everything before he raised an eyebrow, closed his eyes,   
and kissed her back.  
  
  
The snowfall continued lightly though the early evening and into   
the night, yet Endymion stood a moment at the balcony door's   
glass and studied the flakes' reflection in the guard-post fires that   
lit the outer edge of the castle wall. They spiraled slowly down in   
a serene pattern that somehow calmed every soul beneath their   
originating clouds.  
  
He smiled to himself and glanced back into the room, with its fire   
burning warmly and the night's pressure to rest settling heavily.   
His young wife still sat perching on the sofa, wrapped round with   
a blanket and curled up before the fire.  
  
…Serenity… That one thing was for what he truly lived.  
  
  
@}---_____________  
"Take away love and our earth is a tomb." - Robert Browning  
  
"A psychiatrist is a person who will give you expensive answers   
that your wife will give you for free." - Chad Woerner  
  
  
Ending Author's notes:  
  
Well, yet again I bid you farewell, but invite you to write to me   
any time. I am entering my last years of college and do not know   
if I will be able to continue writing. sniff Although I love this,   
and am truly amazed at the people that I have been able to talk to   
through this universe, this may be the last work that I am able to   
do… at least for a while. I am hopefully going to get my web   
page out of mothballs and put up, and another mixture type story   
put together, but I do not know yet.  
  
For any developing information I have a profile set up at Yahoo!   
with any forthcoming info.  
profiles.yahoo.com/isis_cw  
web page at: http://www.geocities.com/realmofisis  
BTW, alternate e-mail address is   
isis_cw@yahoo.com  
in case you have any trouble with my normal one. I thank you all   
for reading through this and I pray that my writings have helped   
you in some way (at least as a combat to boredom!) I am also   
available for any consultation, I just love mail! ;)  
  
If this is my final work, I thank all of you sooooo very much for   
the wonderful experiences I have had. God bless.  
  
Sayonara,  
Isis @}---  
  
copyright January 3, 2001.  
  
"My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine.   
(Fortunately) Everybody drinks water." - Mark Twain  
  
"I have never written a thing; I have only been privileged enough   
to have been able to read a few things before anyone else." -   
Carolyn Weber @}---  



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